/ 13 February 2008

New smart-card ID to be launched within two years

The Department of Home Affairs expects to introduce the proposed new smart-card identity document (ID) to the general public within two years, it said on Wednesday.

The card will replace the old ID, which is prone to fraud. The new ID will be much more difficult to forge.

Department of Home Affairs Director General Mavuso Msimang told a media briefing at Parliament that the department was currently reviewing the replies from potential service providers to its request for information in this regard, which went out in October last year.

A request for proposals to manufacture such a card will then follow.

”And I would hope that in the next two years, we should have something out,” he said.

A pilot project will first be launched within key departments and institutions, which should be completed in 2009 — and roll-outs to the public will begin the following year.

However, the project may well take less time, Msimang said.

Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said the department will also launch the Online Verification Project this year.

The project was part of the Home Affairs National Identification System.

With the system, citizens’ fingerprints can be immediately verified at home affairs offices when they apply for documents.

This will also reduce ID fraud and improve turnaround time for processing documents, such as IDs and passports.

A printing machine for the new passports will be delivered soon, which will also improve security and integrity of passports, as well as turnaround times, she said.

Msimang agreed the new measures will go a long way in preventing fraudulent documents.

”Yes, I believe there will be a huge improvement with the new passport system and with the new ID system.”

However, South Africa is not the only country affected by syndicates perpetrating passport fraud.

”There is no country that is immune to these kind of syndicates. They’re global in nature, trans-national in their operation; they hit us all.

”The British had a really bad one two years ago, with massive forgeries of their passports.”

Asked about reports that the British government is considering stripping South Africa of its ”visa-free” status, he said his department had had no official engagement with the British on the matter. — Sapa