South Africans can now skip queues at Home Affairs with new digital ID application service

South Africans can now skip long queues atHome Affairsoffices after the department launched a new digital partnership with local banks that allows citizens to apply for Smart IDs in minutes at participating branches. The department said the initiative modernises and expands the existing Online Verification Service with the banking sector, decentralising access and significantly increasing the number of secure service points available across the country. Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber said that for the first time South Africans can apply for Smart IDs at nine participating bank branches, beginning with Capitec and Standard Bank, which went live on Monday.

“Today’s go-live represents a significant evolution of the long-standing collaboration between Home Affairs and South Africa’s banking sector. Under the previous model, banks hosted miniature Home Affairs offices inside their branches, where clients were required to complete applications on the eHomeAffairs platform, make bookings online, and visit the branch primarily for biometric capture.” The number of operational branches is expected to rise to 17 by the end of the week, while First National Bank is in the final testing phase and other participating banks continue preparing for rollout. Under the new system, banks connect directly to Home Affairs through a secure digital gateway, allowing Smart ID applications to be completed in five to ten minutes without paperwork or prior bookings. The department said about 16 million South Africans still rely on the green ID book, widely regarded as one of the most defrauded identity documents on the continent.