Honourable Speaker,

Last year, I stood at this podium and outlined the key priorities that the Home Affairs ecosystem would deliver during 2025.

These were to:

• Build the first components of a Digital Identity system;
• Conclude a new digital partnership model with the banking sector to expand access to Smart ID and Passport services;
• Enable naturalised citizens and permanent resident to obtain Smart IDs; and
• Build an Electronic Travel Authorisation system that uses AI and machine learning to ensure efficient and secure processing of tourist visas.

In 2025, Home Affairs not only delivered on each and every one of these pledges – we went above and beyond.

As a result of our reforms to the Online Verification Service and other upgrades to internal systems, I can today announce that turnaround times for Smart ID and Passport applications have been cut by an incredible 66.7%.

This is what building a capable state looks like, and this is why we issued a record four million Smart IDs in 2025 – a near doubling in efficiency compared to the previous annual average.

Additionally, when the Constitutional Court affirmed in May 2025 that Home Affairs must reinstate the citizenship of South Africans who had been unconstitutionally deprived thereof, we turned a challenge into an opportunity.

In the past, implementation of this judgement would have required affected people to stand in long queues and fill in mountains of paperwork.

But we rejected the old way of doing things, and instead enabled South Africans to verify and confirm the reinstatement of their citizenship online through facial recognition within just one hour.

The technology we built out for this portal is also a key component of the Digital ID system we are rolling out in 2026.

If you want to get a taste of the future we call Home Affairs @ home, simply visit myhomeaffairsonline.dha.gov.za.

Die dramatiese hervorming van Binnelandse Sake maak dit duidelik dat die DA ons ondernemings aan ons kiesers gestand doen, en ‘n reuse bydra lewer om ons land vorentoe te neem deur die Regering van Nasionale Eenheid.

The track record we have built over the past 20 months is also the reason why I can tell the House today: you ain’t seen nothing yet.

In 2026, the best is about to come. Our showpiece reform this year, is Digital ID.

With the core biometric technology already live for the citizenship portal, we now shift our focus to building the frontend user interface.

Through Digital ID, South Africans will not only be able to access their enabling documents on their mobile phone, but they will also be able to remotely verify their identities using secure facial recognition.

Of course, even in a digital world, there remains a need for greater access to secure physical documents, including the Smart ID and Passport.

Within the next few weeks, we will launch the first set of bank branches offering these services through our new digital partnership model.

This will mark the beginning of the end for long queues at Home Affairs. Under the new digital partnership, you will be able to walk into your local bank branch, including in rural and underserved areas, and apply for a Smart ID in as little as three minutes.

The Home Affairs digital revolution is also enhancing border security and immigration management.

Following the successful launch of the ETA ahead of the G20 leaders meeting, the Border Management Authority in collaboration with the South African Revenue Service, is currently expanding facial recognition cameras to all international airports and major land ports.

Once this is complete, we will scale up the ETA to eliminate visa fraud, ensure that biometrics are recorded for every foreigner who enters South Africa, and enable legitimate tourists and travellers to obtain visa outcomes digitally within 24 hours.

At the same time, the preparatory work for the public-private partnership to physically rebuild the six busiest land ports of entry is nearing completion, with an announcement to follow shortly.

These reforms, coupled with the President’s announcement of more labour inspectors and greater funding for border management, as well as the proposals contained in the Draft White Paper, lays the foundation for major progress against illegal migration and illicit trade.

Honourable Speaker,

Through focused delivery on these priorities in 2026, the digital-first, modern and efficient Home Affairs we are building, is fast becoming unrecognisable from what came before.

This is the DA difference that we proudly contribute by working together in the GNU – and, in 2026, the best is about to come.

Thank you.

Media Enquiries:

Carli Van Wyk – Spokesperson to the Minister, Cell: 079 166 3899

ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS