Bad news about smart ID Cards and passports in South Africa

Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, revealed a significant backlog of Smart ID Cards and passports in South Africa.

He shared this information in response to a Parliamentary question from National Assembly member Brumelda Zuma.

She said that Schreiber previously indicated that his department had no backlog at the time in the issuance of Smart ID Cards and passports.

She asked the Minister about the number of applications that have exceeded the department’s prescribed turnaround time.

She also asked him about the measures he has implemented to address applications that remain in the production workflow for extended periods.

Schreiber responded, saying that the Department of Home Affairs has 38,477 applications that have exceeded the prescribed turnaround time.

“Some Smart ID Card applications remain on the production chain for various reasons,” he explained.

“These include those initiated by clients online but never followed up with office visits to complete the transaction.”

He said there are ongoing meetings with stakeholders to address potential bottlenecks in the printing and dispatching of Smart ID Cards.

These stakeholder meetings include the Government Printing Works and the department’s courier provider.

He said that the expanding digital partnership with the banking sector, which has reached 457 branches in five months, will help address this problem.

“This helps the Department to reduce the number of cases requiring verification at the back office, as well as improving turnaround times,” he said.