Quarter million ID backlog cleared by Home Affairs in a month

• A backlog of ID applications that started in 2023 was resolved in just one month.
• The backlog was resolved by placing all “stuck” IDs into a database and working through each until the problem was resolved.
• Minister Leon Schreiber has said the digitalisation of Home Affairs will be approached in the same way.

The Department of Home Affairs is now the responsibility of the DA’s Leon Schreiber and the man is working hard to right that ship.

Case in point, the department has cleared a backlog of IDs applications that have been hanging around its neck since November 2023. By 21st August there were as many as 247 500 IDs in the backlog and by Wednesday, there were zero.

As the department tells it, the backlog stems from a change in IT service providers. This change created a bottleneck in multiple areas of Home Affairs from application to printing of IDs. This created a scenario where the documents were effectively stuck.

So how did Schreiber and his team fix this problem? Quite simply a database.

All of the “stuck” IDs were compiled into a singular database and each ID was sorted through systematically until the problem was resolved. Make no mistake, this is still impressive given how big of a backlog there was. It also bodes well for the future of Home Affairs which has been a dreaded destination for many years.

“The clearing of the ID backlog, which had been accumulating since November 2023, within a single month, serves as yet more tangible proof that longstanding challenges at Home Affairs can be resolved when we work in a systematic and focused manner,” Schreiber said in a statement.

“This achievement, alongside our progress in reducing the visa backlog, reforming regulations to attract tourism, skills and investment, as well as the important initial steps we are taking towards digital transformation, should lead to growing confidence in our ability to drive the reforms required for Home Affairs to deliver dignity to all,” he added.

The minister has set himself up to be the change South Africans want to see in Home Affairs. Part of his promises include the digitalisation of the department. While this is a slow process, Schreiber appears to be laser-focused on making progress, no matter how small it may seem. For instance, a move to send emails to applicants about the status of their visa waiver applications is small, but it lays the ground work for bigger visions, just like systematically working through a gargantuan backlog of ID applications.

“Our apex priority is the wholesale digital transformation of Home Affairs to create a new system where South Africans should be able to submit ID and other applications from the comfort of their own home through a digital platform, followed by the delivery of these documents to their doorstep. We call this vision ‘Home Affairs @ home,’ and we are committed to realising it with the same systematic approach that enabled us to clear the ID backlog,” the minister promised.

We hope that this sort of determination to resolve issues bleeds through into other government departments.

The post Quarter million ID backlog cleared by Home Affairs in a month appeared first on Hypertext.