ID turnaround time reduced to two months
Posted 5th August 2008 at 04:06 PM by NewsTracker
Pretoria - It can now take up to an average of 68 days, or just slightly over two months, to be issued with an Identity Document.
The Department of Home Affairs has improved the turnaround time for issuing identity documents from an initial baseline of 163 days, to an average of 103 days (just over 3 months) in February this year to the current average of 68 days.
Briefing the media following the July Cabinet Lekgotla, chairperson of Government’s Governance and Administration Cluster, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, said improvements made on the cluster’s civic service side, was “palpable.”
To assist with improving the overall turnaround times for the issuing of identity documents, ID track and trace technology had been implemented at 260 Home Affairs offices.
The system allows one to check the status of an application throughout the ID issuance process. SMS and internet query functionality is also available to assist clients with enquiries.
Minister Fraser-Moleketi said ID distribution had also been harmonised with a single service provider now collecting documentation from Home Affairs offices and delivering documentation from the central ID processing centre back to local offices.
This had reduced the average “postage” time to three days. She said the department was also engaging with the South African Post Office to improve distribution to citizens.
Turning to the department’s initiative to replace the existing IDs with ID smart cards, the minister said a tender for the process was issued in June.
The project was on track with the target date for the issuing of pilot cards being December 2008.
The rollout of the cards, which is hoped would eliminate the high incidence of ID fraud in the country, would take on a phased approach. – BuaNews
The Department of Home Affairs has improved the turnaround time for issuing identity documents from an initial baseline of 163 days, to an average of 103 days (just over 3 months) in February this year to the current average of 68 days.
Briefing the media following the July Cabinet Lekgotla, chairperson of Government’s Governance and Administration Cluster, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, said improvements made on the cluster’s civic service side, was “palpable.”
To assist with improving the overall turnaround times for the issuing of identity documents, ID track and trace technology had been implemented at 260 Home Affairs offices.
The system allows one to check the status of an application throughout the ID issuance process. SMS and internet query functionality is also available to assist clients with enquiries.
Minister Fraser-Moleketi said ID distribution had also been harmonised with a single service provider now collecting documentation from Home Affairs offices and delivering documentation from the central ID processing centre back to local offices.
This had reduced the average “postage” time to three days. She said the department was also engaging with the South African Post Office to improve distribution to citizens.
Turning to the department’s initiative to replace the existing IDs with ID smart cards, the minister said a tender for the process was issued in June.
The project was on track with the target date for the issuing of pilot cards being December 2008.
The rollout of the cards, which is hoped would eliminate the high incidence of ID fraud in the country, would take on a phased approach. – BuaNews
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