Eliminating green barcoded ID will help reduce fraud, says Home Affairs' Nzuza

CAPE TOWN - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza said that rooting out corruption in the department was a costly exercise but one it believed was worth pursuing.

He said that the elimination of the green barcoded identity document would go a long way to reducing fraud. 

The department on Tuesday briefed Parliament's portfolio committee on the progress it was making in rooting out the rot.

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Nzuza said that fraudulent identity documents issued to foreign nationals were having widespread consequences on the country's fiscus.

He said just by one person introducing 1,000 children into the population register costs the fiscus millions in social grants and other benefits. 

"They find ways to get into DNA labs, and do DNA swaps, which means the results come back of a foreign child which must be accepted because of the father, but it’s not the real child."

He said that so far, 30 million records had been digitised but there was a long way to go.

"We have to eliminate the green barcoded ID. As soon as we do that, then we can move into the digital [space]. So, we are working on that."

The department says it plans to conclude at least 28 disciplinary matters instituted against officials implicated in the fraudulent issuing of documents in this financial year.