The present National Population Register will be replaced by the new National Identity System (NIS), which will form the backbone of all Home Affairs operations in South Africa.
The technology will secure and reliably integrate civic and immigration status with identity and biometric data by March 2024. So the NIS becomes a single source of information on all South Africans.
The Department of Home Affairs said this will improve security for citizens and all known foreign nationals in South Africa.
“The department is now creating a single integrated source of biographic and biometric data to enable seamless digital service delivery. According to an identity management policy and an upgraded identification Act, the current separate civic and immigration systems will produce secure data.
All processes – births, marriages, and deaths – would be digital and secured, it stated.
It said that the NIS will reduce fraudulent transactions and enable effective e-government and e-commerce services.
-businesstech
Ten-year upgrade
The new National Identity System is part of a 10-year modernisation program of the Department of Home Affairs.
“The digital transformation will be facilitated by robust integrated backend systems and sophisticated network infrastructure,” it stated.
Some of the important aspects of the NIS that will be phased in include:
Birth, marriage, and death certificates issued digitally
For pre-approved frequent flyers, e-gates at high-volume land ports of entry use modified screening processes
A single hub for permits and visas.
This includes public and commercial health systems for birth and death registration.
“The new paradigm will eliminate previous issues like long lines and fraud.
In the future, the DHA will deliver people-centric services and identification data verification to both public and commercial institutions.
