South Africa: Home Affairs Clears Backlog Of 247,500 Identity Document Applications Within One Month

The Department of Home Affairs is proud to announce that, within the space of one month, we have managed to fully clear the backlog of Identity Documents (IDs) that started to accumulate in November 2023 following a change in IT service providers. The changeover created a bottleneck in multiple areas in the production value chain, from the office of application, to application authentication, to printing, and to the final issuing of the ID. As a result, nearly a quarter of a million applications became “stuck” in a growing backlog.

As part of the Department’s commitment to clearing backlogs and enhancing efficiency, on 21 August 2024, Home Affairs consolidated all of the “stuck” IDs into a single database in order to systematically clear the backlog. On that day, there were 247 500 IDs in the backlog.

Today, on 25 September 2024, the number is zero, with the backlog completely eradicated.

Since then, officials have worked tirelessly to ensure that applications are “unstuck” in order for IDs to reach clients who were waiting to gain access to this important piece of civic documentation, without which they cannot become active participants in the economy.

Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said: “The clearing of the ID backlog, which had been accumulating since November 2023, within a single month, serves as yet more tangible proof that longstanding challenges at Home Affairs can be resolved when we work in a systematic and focused manner. This achievement, alongside our progress in reducing the visa backlog, reforming regulations to attract tourism, skills and investment, as well as the important initial steps we are taking towards digital transformation, should lead to growing confidence in our ability to drive the reforms required for Home Affairs to deliver dignity to all. The clearing of this specific backlog also signifies our commitment to turn Home Affairs into a powerful economic enabler, as the individuals affected by the backlog can now seek employment, open accounts, and gain access to social grants.”

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Minister Schreiber added: “We still have much more to do. Our apex priority is the wholesale digital transformation of Home Affairs to create a new system where South Africans should be able to submit ID and other applications from the comfort of their own home through a digital platform, followed by the delivery of these documents to their doorstep. We call this vision “Home Affairs @ home,” and we are committed to realising it with the same systematic approach that enabled us to clear the ID backlog.”

To further support our communities, the Department of Home Affairs has also extended our office hours on every Saturday until 12 October to enable clients to collect their IDs and other civic documentation. During this past Saturday, more than 9 200 people took advantage of this opportunity by visiting our offices between 08:00 to 13:00. Following the clearance of the backlog, we encourage clients – including our valued matriculants – who have applied for IDs and have now received SMS notifications, to seize this opportunity by visiting their local Home Affairs office to collect these critical documents. Please find below a link to an audio recording on this statement by Minister Schreiber.

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