A request for bids for the smart identity card project will close on 13 June and the pilot project is on track for implementation in December.
This is according to Jackson McKay, deputy director-general for immigration at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).
Speaking at a Parliamentary media briefing, hosted by the Governance and Administration Cluster of Ministries, McKay said the new smart ID cards would reduce the risk of fraud.
"The people who will pilot the project will be a section of the most vulnerable in our society, such as pensioners. We have not identified exactly who they will be yet," he said.
McKay said the smart ID cards, which will have embedded chips in them, will be used for a number of things such as the payment of pensions and social grants. Other possible uses are being considered.
Immigrants and asylum seekers, who have been the targets of recent xenophobia attacks, will also start receiving a new ID card to replace the current paper-based identification system that is vulnerable to being spoilt, stolen or forged. However, McKay said it would not be a smart ID card-type system.
"Currently, our plans are that the smart ID card will only be used for SA citizens," he said.
Other parts of the DHA turnaround projects and its increased reliance on ICT systems to improve its service delivery include the roll-out of the online fingerprint verification system to its largest 40 offices in March, and the commencement of installing this system in the remainder of its offices. All of the DHA offices have been equipped with the ID track and trace systems, with scanners and receipt printers now installed at all 259 of its offices.
The DHA's customer service centre, comprising an outsourced first line call centre and an in-house second line case resolution unit, is fully operational, McKay said.
By the end of May, first line agents had been increased to 102 and the second line was increased to 22 case resolution officers. The first line call agents were receiving 80 000 calls on a monthly basis and 90% were answered in 20 seconds and 80% were finalised after the first call.
During the same briefing, it was announced that the 100th Thusong Service Centre would be opened at Inhlazuka, in KwaZulu-Natal. These centres are designed to allow previously disadvantaged communities to access government information over the Internet.
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