Great news for Smart IDs in South Africa

The Department of Home Affairs says that it is exceeding its targets for issuing Smart IDs in South Africa, with 2025 set to be a record year as it makes it easier to obtain the vital card.

DHA minister Leon Schreiber said that the department is on track to process 3.6 million Smart IDs in the 2024/25 financial year, more than 1 million over its set target, and exceeding the amounts delivered in the years prior.

He added that it is also the first quarter on record that 1 million Smart IDs had been processed—something which is set to continue under the reforms at the DHA.

Between 1 October and 31 December 2024, 970,543 Smart IDs were issued, compared to a quarterly target of 575 000. This represents overperformance of 69%.

Similarly, between 1 July and 30 September 2024, 895,125 Smart IDs were issued against a target of 625,000, representing overperformance of 43%.

The Department’s annual target for the 2024/2025 financial year is to issue 2.5 million Smart IDs, which is in line with the total number of IDs issued during each of the past three financial years.

However, at the current trajectory, Home Affairs is likely to exceed this annual target by over one million, as the Department is now on track to issue a record-breaking 3.6 million Smart IDs during 2024/2025.

This is, by some margin, the strongest performance since Smart IDs were first introduced a decade ago.

Schreiber attributed the quarterly rollout’s success to initiatives at malls, banks, mobile units, and front offices that were able to meet the growing demand.

The minister said that the increased Smart ID rollout was a key indicator that Home Affairs’ new tech-first drive would pay off and that there is growing public confidence in the reforms taking place.

“This overperformance also inspires us to work even harder to ensure that all qualifying persons are able to obtain Smart IDs before the end of calendar year 2025,” he said.

More bank branches coming

Schreiber has spoken about his intention to ramp up the issuing of Smart IDs in South Africa through extending the DHA’s collaboration with the country’s banks.

Speaking on the Nuuspod podcast, Schreiber said that for almost a decade the partnership has been limited to around 30 bank branches around the country.

However, there are plans to significantly expand the project with many more branches to follow.

“This must become hundreds if not thousands of bank branches. I want every village, town, city, and suburb in South Africa to have access to Home Affairs services in a local bank branch,” said Schreiber.

“I believe this will reduce the pressure on our offices and alleviate the long queues. Not to mention greatly expanding our footprint.”

The Banking Association of South Africa’s prudential head, Mark Brits, said there are agreements to expand the Home Affairs service to more bank branches, and these were mostly completed and signed.

FNB plans to add 18 eHome Affairs branches and Absa currently has an additional 12 branches ready for activation.

Discovery Bank also announced that it plans to expand the service by adding four locations in Cape Town, Pretoria, and Durban.

The new Discovery Bank eHome Affairs branches will be in Sea Point, Century City, Pretoria, and Umhlanga.

Nedbank has also confirmed it wants to expand its home affairs services but has not confirmed how many new branches it will add.

If all these plans come to fruition, the number of eHome Affairs bank branches in South Africa will increase from 30 to 64.