Big announcement for people applying for a new passport or Smart ID
Home Affairs will be rolling out additional channels for clients to obtain IDs and passports without requiring them to visit the department’s offices, including “hundreds” of new bank branches that will offer the service.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber told Daily Investor that the department’s biggest priority this year is to deliver “Home Affairs @ home.”
“To achieve this, we will be rolling out additional channels for clients to obtain Home Affairs ID and passport services without requiring them to visit our offices,” he said.
“This includes deepening cooperation with banks to provide Home Affairs services in many more branches, introducing digital channels similar to online banking, and enabling clients to have IDs and passports delivered to their doorsteps.”
“We also continue to roll out mobile units that visit communities in rural and needy areas. All of these reforms are part of incrementally bringing Home Affairs closer to home for all South Africans.”
The rollout of extra service locations will be crucial this year as the Home Affairs Department is in the process of phasing out green ID books, with the goal that every South African obtains a Smart ID card.
Schreiber previously explained that this is because green ID books are extremely vulnerable to fraud and identity theft.
“We ultimately want everyone to get the smart ID. It will help the government if everyone has a more secure ID document,” he said.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza said eliminating green ID books will create a far more secure environment.
He said many people, including Home Affairs officials, were engaged in unlawful activity related to green ID books.
This is partly why the department wants to move to an online system where citizens engage with a computer instead of people.
However, progress is slower than anticipated, and the department is not issuing enough smart IDs to replace green ID books fast enough.

One problem is that South Africans believe visiting a Department of Home Affairs branch is an unpleasant experience.
The process is seen as inefficient and unfriendly, with long queues, unfriendly staff, systems regularly going offline, and slow delivery times.
This is why one of Home Affairs’ top priorities this year is to deliver its “Home Affairs @ home” initiative. One of the crucial elements of this initiative is Home Affairs’ cooperation with banks.
Currently, 30 bank branches in South Africa offer passport and Smart ID renewals through the eHomeAffairs system.
The Department of Home Affairs introduced the eHomeAffairs system in 2016. Since then, FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Investec, Nedbank, and Discovery Bank have operated successful pilot sites.
This facility enables people to apply for a Smart ID card or new passport online and pay for it before going into a bank branch to do their biometric verification.
However, the system appears to be in a perpetually renewing pilot phase, with rollouts being painstakingly slow.
The minister told Daily Investor that the “Home Affairs @ home” initiative will dramatically expand and deepen Home Affairs’ cooperation with banks, which has been piloted successfully in 30 branches.
However, he said this project has been in a “pilot” phase for too long, “and I am determined to expand Home Affairs services to hundreds of bank branches across the length and breadth of South Africa”.
“Our vision to deliver ‘Home Affairs @ home’ during the current administration has the potential to redefine the way in which government works in South Africa by turning Home Affairs into a digital-first department truly fit for the digital age,” he said.
This will be done “through a process of reform to revolutionise government similar to the way in which banking was revolutionised by the advent of online banking”.
The table below shows all the Department of Home Affairs-enabled bank branches in South Africa.
Province | Bank branch |
Gauteng | Absa Centurion Lifestyle Centre Absa Key West Krugersdorp Absa Sandton City Discovery Bank Head Office FNB Centurion Lifestyle Centre FNB Glen Shopping Centre FNB Lynnwood FNB Merchant Place Investec Bank Sandown Nedbank Arcadia Nedbank Constantia Kloof Nedbank Rivonia Standard Bank Centurion Lifestyle Centre Standard Bank Jubilee Mall Standard Bank Killarney Mall Standard Bank Simmonds Street |
Western Cape | Absa Stellenbosch Absa Towers FNB Greenpoint Nedbank St George’s Mall Standard Bank Canal Walk Standard Bank Mitchell’s Plain Promenade |
KwaZulu Natal | FNB Cornubia Nedbank Durban North Standard Bank Kingsmead |
Eastern Cape | Absa Port Elizabeth Standard Bank Newton Park |
Mpumalanga | Nedbank Nelspruit |
Limpopo | FNB Burgersfort |
Northern Cape | Standard Bank Kathu Mall |
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