Digital change at Home Affairs essential
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says progress has been made in implementing a digital system to turn the department into a fully automated hub to ‘supercharge’ tourism and restore SA’s national security integrity.
A Business Day report says addressing the NCOP yesterday, Schreiber said he was encouraged by the progress made since the GNU came into office, though there was still a long way to go to deliver on the programme, dubbed Home Affairs @Home.
‘During a two-day strategic planning workshop with myself, Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza, as well as managers from around the country, Home Affairs adopted a new strategic plan built entirely around digital transformation,’ said Schreiber.
An internal review of co-operation with banks was under way to deepen and expand this successful partnership and introduce new service offerings.
‘Aspects of the visa adjudication process have been digitised and improved, which has contributed to the visa backlog – which dates back more than a decade – being reduced by more than 82%. Network problems experienced by the Border Management Authority at ports of entry are being addressed in co-operation with SARS,’ said Schreiber.
‘Similarly, internal processes are being automated, as demonstrated recently when Home Affairs launched an online portal to receive applications for the trusted tour operator scheme.’
Social grants, tax collection, student funding, access to healthcare and education, qualification for housing subsidies, and countless other government services – all depend directly on the data contained in Home Affairs’ national population register, said Schreiber.
‘Private institutions, including banks, credit bureaus, insurance companies and other financial services, similarly rely on Home Affairs to deliver critical services to the people of SA ... above all else, Home Affairs is an IT department. As a consequence, when the digital infrastructure of Home Affairs is allowed to decay, all forms of public and private sector services similarly decay.’
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
