SA Department of Home Affairs hit by IT problems

According to senior officials at South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, Information Technology (IT) related problems in have caused delays in the timely processing and production of passport documents.

This is apparently due to migration from old to new systems running the department’s processes.

Says Mavuso Msimang, Director-General of the Department: “Home Affairs is moving from some very old technology to new, improved systems. It is the interfacing of these systems that has created some delays in the production of passports.”

He said a team of technical engineers and IT specialists have been working to resolve the problems, which seem to be in the interface between the new passport production system and the department’s data capturing system.

“Significant progress has been made in resolving the problems, during the past two weeks over 25 000 passports were produced” added Msimang.

“The technology upgrades are imperative to the Department’s programme to improve service delivery and the security of the passport. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are working hard to get back to the three-week turnaround times we achieved at the beginning of the year.”

— Goodman Majola