Media Statement on the live-capture system upgrade and it's impact on ID and passport services
Before we move to the subject of the day, I want to share information on the setback experienced yesterday with regard to power interruption at the building hosting our identification system. The service interruption was caused by the uninterrupted power supply (UPS) which failed. This affected our back office systems, which meant our offices were not able to assist clients with most services. Disaster recovery efforts are underway, and we expect our systems to be fully online by the end of business today. We apologize to all affected clients for the disruption.
The Department of Home Affairs has reached another milestone in rolling-out its flagship programme of Modernisation, which began in 2010. We are now moving to a paperless process for birth, marriage and death registration in a phased-in approach, as well as the printing of parents’ details in the children’s passports. This is another way of ‘meeting the future’, by rising to opportunities created by technological advancements for maximising client satisfaction.
Today’s media briefing was convened to announce this latest development – the automation of the Births, Marriages and Deaths (BMD) system. To do this, requires a major system upgrade, commencing on Friday afternoon, 13 July 2018.
System upgrade: Phase 1
- Birth registration for children 0 to one year will be automated, meaning that clients will no longer complete paper forms for birth registration. This will be more convenient for our clients, and will reduce opportunities for corruption and fraud.
- Marriages and deaths: This entails reprints of marriages and death certificates for clients that are already registered in the national population register (without filling paper forms).
- Printing of parents’ details in passports: Once we have completed the upgrade and fully implemented in the identified offices, the details of parents will be printed in the children’s passports. In this way, the department will have delivered also on the earlier Cabinet concession of easing travel with children.
However if a child is not travelling with parents (one or both), written consent is still required. Those with valid passports do not have to reapply for new passports for children.
Phase 2:
- Birth registration for children one year and above will be automated in the new financial year.
- Marriages and deaths: This entails new registration of marriages and deaths without filling paper forms.
This system upgrade is a part of ongoing enhancements of the live-capture system, to improve service quality, by modernising processes. It entails minimal interruptions in the provision of ID and passport services between 13 July (from 14h00) and 20 July (till 16h00), with provinces affected at different times and degrees.
The end-product will be the automation of the way Home Affairs offices capture birth registration and issue certificates for births, marriages and deaths. Documents will now be saved electronically and be easily retrieved upon request, as opposed to the old paper-based legacy system.
The live-capture system upgrade is scheduled to start on Friday 13 July 2018, and, on this day, modernised offices – which are those office which accept smart ID card applications – will be unable to receive applications for IDs and passports, from 14h00 to enable system back-up. However, offices will attend to people whose applications are already in the process.
Schedule of Implementation:
Monday 16 to 17 July: Western Cape, Kwazulu-Natal & Participating Banks.
Wednesday 18 to 19 July: Limpopo, North West & Eastern Cape.
20 July: Mpumalanga, Free State & Northern Cape.
During the implementation of this upgrade services for smart ID cards and passports will not be available in the 184 modernised offices, including at the department’s eHomeAffairs partners, in the banking sector, with the exception of large offices. All other services will be available, except for smart ID cards and passports.
Importantly, as indicated, only 184 modernised offices will be affected, again with the exception of large offices. Clients needing ID and passport-related services may visit large offices in their provinces as these will be fully operational. Large offices would have been attended to on Sunday 15 July 2018, with no impact on services. Work in the Gauteng Province will also be carried out over the weekend of 14-15 July 2018, which means no office in Gauteng will experience disruption.
This arrangement is meant to minimise service delivery disruptions as we upgrade systems. Public Notices were dispatched to all DHA offices, to prepare our clients for the upgrade.
Conclusion
We apologise for service interruptions during the upcoming upgrade. All this is intended to improve service delivery, as part of our quest to build a capable state.
Thank you.
For media enquiries contact
Thabo Mokgola
Cell: 060 962 4982 or
David Hlabane
Cell: 071 342 4284
