Question NW490 to the Minister of Home Affairs
14 March 2024 - NW490
Siwisa, Ms AM to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
What steps has his department taken to fight the increase of identity theft cases in the Republic, where innocent individuals are left in debt due to their identities being fraudulently issued by officials within his department to persons with ill intent who use it to open credit accounts?
Reply:
Innocent individuals who find themselves in debt due to identity theft are informed by the creditors of their debts and if disputed, they are advised to report the matter to the SAPS for further investigation.
The Department has online verification services whereby any member of the public when applying for identification in the Department, the document is verified online to ensure authentication of the owner of the identity to be issued.
Banks have online verification platforms whereby they can verify the legitimacy of the fingerprints of the clients as they are linked to DHA systems.
All reported cases of corruption involving officials are analysed and investigated. Cases reported with elements of fraud and corruption are referred to SAPS for further handling.
If misconduct is detected, the case is referred to Employee Engagement for disciplinary processes.
The Department has also embarked on Awareness Campaigns regarding identity on both Internal and External platforms.
END