Plan to digitise Home Affairs Dept proves feasible, says Minister Schreiber

JOHANNESBURG - Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has assured South Africans that his five-year plan to digitise the department is feasible.

Schreiber's plan - which was announced on Monday - envisions that over the next five years, the Home Affairs Department’s services will be accessible online.

He said examples of digitised services are a worldwide phenomenon.

"First of all, there's the example of online banking which everyone is increasingly familiar with, and then we also have government institutions, like the revenue service that have gone through this transformation, moving away from manual paper-based processes that require customers to physically visit offices." 

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However, Schreiber said there's still a long road ahead for the department.

"It's something that Home Affairs has fallen behind on... If you just go to a Home Affairs office and you see the amount of paperwork still involved in the process, then you will understand that we've got an urgent need for digital transformation and it won't happen overnight."

Schreiber said the country's national security is also at stake if the department continues to use paper-based processes.