The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, is proud to announce that the Department has delivered on its target of expanding Smart ID replacement services to over 750 bank branches, more than four months ahead of schedule.

When the department launched its new digital partnership with the banking sector on March 9 as part of the Minister’s “Home Affairs @ home” reform agenda, it set an ambitious target to scale this groundbreaking new service to 750 branches by the end of the 2026-27 financial year.

Just eight months later, and more than four months ahead of schedule, this target has already been surpassed, with 753 bank branches now delivering access to Smart IDs in communities that were historically excluded from this critical Home Affairs service.

More than one million South Africans across the country have already benefited from this new digital service channel. At the start of the current administration, only 214 Home Affairs offices nationwide were equipped to process Smart ID applications.

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The addition of 753 participating bank branches over the past eight months has expanded the Department’s Smart ID footprint to 967 locations, an increase of over 350% in just 246 days.

Importantly, this service requires no prior booking, paperwork or queues. Citizens can walk into a participating branch of Absa, Capitec, First National Bank or Standard Bank, where applications are processed through secure biometric technology in just five minutes. More banks and services are set to be added to the project shortly.

This dramatic expansion in access across all communities also supports the Department’s roadmap to phase out the fraud-prone green ID book, a key pull factor for illegal immigration and identity theft, in favour of the more secure Smart ID Card, strengthening the security and integrity of South Africa’s identification system.

“Eight months ago, we set ourselves what many regarded as an extremely ambitious target of delivering Smart ID services to 750 bank branches by the end of March 2027. Today, we have not only achieved that target, but exceeded it with more than four months to spare,” Schreiber said.

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“An increase in excess of 350% in just 246 days is the fastest service expansion in our history. We can now say with confidence that the days of standing in a long queue to apply for a replacement Smart ID, are fast coming to an end. And there is so much more still to come as we continue to expand our digital partnership.”

For many South Africans, the idea that Home Affairs could transform this quickly would once have seemed impossible. At a time when people have often complained that government falls short of its promises, Home Affairs is demonstrating that government cannot only deliver on its commitments, but, through the embrace of innovation and fundamental reform, exceed all expectations.

“Through our commitment to delivering world-class digital public infrastructure for the people of South Africa, we are including millions of previously excluded citizens in critical Home Affairs services at a scale and pace never seen before.

“Every day, we continue to accelerate our work to entirely redesign and rebuild home affairs for the modern age, anchored in our ceaseless quest to deliver dignity for all,” Schreiber concluded.