South Africa's Department of Home Affairs will launch an upgraded system for checking citizen records. Companies that verify customer information must pay much higher fees starting July 1. The new cost jumps from 15 cents to 10 rand per check. Banks and financial firms use this service to confirm client identities against government databases. The department has kept the same low price since 2013.
Minister Leon Schreiber says the old rate was far below market prices for similar services. Private companies charge much more for the same type of verification work. The cheap pricing led to system abuse and massive overuse of the database. Some organizations made excessive requests that crashed the system more than half the time. This caused problems at Home Affairs offices across the country.
The upgraded system works much better than the old version. Failure rates dropped from over 50 percent to less than 1 percent. Response times improved from hours to real-time results. Companies can also use a cheaper batch option during quiet hours for 1 rand per field check. This new feature should reduce strain on the live system.
Government departments will continue receiving free access to the verification service. The department needs better funding to maintain the national population register properly. Home Affairs plans to use this database as the foundation for a future digital identity system. The upgraded technology supports the department's shift toward digital-first operations.
Minister Leon Schreiber says the old rate was far below market prices for similar services. Private companies charge much more for the same type of verification work. The cheap pricing led to system abuse and massive overuse of the database. Some organizations made excessive requests that crashed the system more than half the time. This caused problems at Home Affairs offices across the country.
The upgraded system works much better than the old version. Failure rates dropped from over 50 percent to less than 1 percent. Response times improved from hours to real-time results. Companies can also use a cheaper batch option during quiet hours for 1 rand per field check. This new feature should reduce strain on the live system.
Government departments will continue receiving free access to the verification service. The department needs better funding to maintain the national population register properly. Home Affairs plans to use this database as the foundation for a future digital identity system. The upgraded technology supports the department's shift toward digital-first operations.
