The Department of Home Affairs will make an announcement on the long-awaited implementation of smart card IDs in the new year.
Minister Naledi Pandor, addressing the National Press Club last week, says the department piloted the concept earlier this year. The cards are set to replace the current green bar-coded ID.
"The pilot was a success and, in the new year, we will make an announcements on the implementation of the smart ID card project." The current green ID book is not sufficient to match new technologies and transactions under the IT modernisation project.
Home Affairs is on track with its modernisation programme, which includes upgrading IT infrastructure; live-capture systems for IDs, passports, permits and visas; and the new National Population Register system, says Pandor.
The card project was originally supposed to be piloted at the end of 2008, using pensioners as the sample group, but this did not happen. The contract was sent out for tender, but was cancelled a few years ago due to irregularities and it has since been decided that the smart card would be printed by the Government Printing Works.
The smart cards will have embedded microchips, which can be used to secure state pension payouts. Additional uses are being considered. Globally, electronic ID card projects are enabling next-generation e-government for millions of people, from simple identification cards, to fully-integrated systems extending across public sector departments and into the private sector.
Extra people
According to the department, there are 29 677 individuals with duplicate IDs. "We published the list of 29,677 South Africans with duplicate IDs. We also commissioned TransUnion to track down the holders of duplicate IDs," says Pandor.
Pandor explains that the department took this "extraordinary step" because people with duplicate IDs will not be able to have a bank account, access social grants, housing and other government services or enroll for further education and training.
"Yet few of those on the list have come forward to have their ID conflicts resolved. We will try again. Once we have made contact, we will invalidate the duplicate IDs, remove them from our National Population Register, and advise all banks and other relevant government institutions," says Pandor.
Medium-term Piloting of the smart ID card. reasury's Adjusted Estimates of National Expenditure October
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