The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has expanded its digital partnership with Absa, giving South Africans two-and-a-half times more places to apply for a Smart ID Card than they did just four-and-a-half months ago.
As part of the partnership with Absa, the DHA has also launched South Africa's first bank-based Home Affairs mobile unit.
The mobile unit will take secure Smart ID services directly to remote, peri-urban and previously underserved communities, extending the reach of the department's digital reforms beyond traditional Home Affairs offices.
"For far too long, accessing Home Affairs meant taking a taxi or a bus, missing a day of work, standing in long queues and spending hours simply to apply for an identity document. Our Home Affairs @ home reform programme is changing that forever by bringing Home Affairs to where people live, work and bank,” says Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber.
The launch builds on the rapid expansion of the digital partnership since it went live on March 9. In just four-and-a-half months, the DHA has expanded services to 327 participating bank branches.
