#eHomeAffairs for Gauteng, W Cape only

13/04/2016 Home Affairs Director-General, Mkuseli Apleni, brief media on applications for Smart ID cards and passports through the eHomeAffairs system. Picture: Phill Magakoe

13/04/2016 Home Affairs Director-General, Mkuseli Apleni, brief media on applications for Smart ID cards and passports through the eHomeAffairs system. Picture: Phill Magakoe

Published Apr 14, 2016

Share

Johannesburg - Only Gauteng residents, and to a lesser extent the Western Cape, have an option of applying for smart ID cards and passports online and collect them from banks.

The eHomeAffairs initiative is only available in Gauteng and one bank at Canal Walk in the Western Cape, Home Affairs director-general Mkhuseli Apleni told journalists in Pretoria on Wednesday.

There are 11 banks in the province which were part of the pilot, four of which are in Tshwane. They are Absa Lifestyle Centurion, FNB Lifestyle Centurion, FNB Menlyn and Standard Bank Centurion.

Apleni said this was because they were still testing the project before it could be introduced elsewhere.

“Given that for now focus is largely on Gauteng and Canal Walk, we wish to appeal to citizens outside these areas not to use the facility until further notice,” he said.

eHomeAffairs, which was launched last week, allows for people to apply for these important documents from the comfort of home.

“The beauty of the system is that citizens who choose this facility do not have to queue in offices. Home Affairs offices will then be freed to attend speedily to other clients, thus confirming our promise that the days of the horror affairs’ are over,” he said.

Basically, an applicant will apply and pay online and then go to the selected bank to have their photo taken and fingerprint verified.

“No more do people have to bring pictures with them, nor are they required to dip fingers in ink. Instead, their pictures will be taken in a photo booth and fingerprints collected electronically,” Apleni said.

“As we have announced, the platform is being used mostly by citizens in the targeted group, 30 to 35 years old. Our appeal is for more (of these) citizens to seize the moment and apply. Others will follow in due course.”

Since eHomeAffairs went live last week, 4 088 people have registered and 140 online applications successfully concluded. “We are satisfied that the online system is functioning very well with clients appreciating its efficiency and the shortest time they have to spend in the banks for capturing of biometrics,” the director-general said.

Apleni said the department was confident that the network it was using was secure, since security issues such as identity fraud had plagued the department for decades.

“I need to emphasise that our system is not running in the networks of the banks. It is in the Home Affairs network,” he said.

“This means that should there be any problems with the application process, citizens should contact the department and not the banks.”

Pretoria News

Related Topics: