New bank branches for Smart IDs and passports in South Africa hit a wall
The deadline for a the Department of Home Affairs’ public-private partnerships (PPP) with South Africa’s banks is drawing near, but none of the stakeholders are speaking up on what happens next.
South Africans have been able to apply for and renew Smart IDs and passports at over 25 bank branches for a few years as part of a PPP pilot between the DHA and participating banks.
The pilot was initially expected to end in March 2023, with home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi anticipating a full rollout, extending services to over 43 more branches.
However, this deadline was missed, with FNB revealing in April that the pilot was extended to September 2023.
Since then, however, progress on the project has fallen silent.
Queries on the next steps of project to the participating banks was met with a response that all questions should be directed to the DHA.
However, despite acknowledging receipt of the questions – and several follow-ups for weeks – the department has not returned any comment or given any indication that it will be commenting.
This puts into question the future of the pilot, which has seen huge demand from banking clients for the services and keen interest from the participating banks to continue offering them.
Previously, the DHA revealed that the big hurdle for the project were service levels at the department. Because the Home Affairs branches in the banks are satellite offices, they are still operate at Home Affairs levels of service – which are notoriously poor.
The banks specifically flagged SITA and system downtime as big problems. Because the DHA offices are in branded bank branches, poor services levels may reflect poorly on the banks and cause reputational damage.
While groups like FNB, Standard Bank, Absa and Nedbank have expressed interest in expanding the Home Affairs services, the entire project rests on the pilot ending with with a positive committment from the DHA.
Despite talking of 43 new offices being primed to open back in 2022, no new bank branches launched Home Affairs services this year so far.
The last bank branch to open for Home Affairs services was the Standard Bank, Kathu Mall branch, which opened at the end of 202 and is still operating in a trial mode.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs has focused its service expansion to several shopping malls in the country, and bolstering its mobile unit facilities to reach more remote areas.
These are the 27 bank branches that currently offer Smart ID and passport services:
- Standard Bank — 9
- FNB — 7
- Nedbank — 5
- Absa — 4
- Discovery Bank — 1
- Investec — 1
Standard Bank
| Bank | Address | Contact Number |
| Standard Bank Kathu Mall | Shop 62 Village Walk Shopping Centre Kathu, Hendrik Van Eck Street, Postmasburg | 053 723 9610 |
| Standard Bank Centurion | Cnr Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd Centurion Lifestyle Centre | 012 671 4042 |
| Standard Bank Killarney Mall | Killarney Mall, Riviera Rd, Killarney, Johannesburg | 011 486 0002 |
| Standard Bank Kingsmead | 1 Kingsmead Way, Durban | 031 308 7900 |
| Standard Bank Jubilee Mall | Shop no. 47 Jubilee Mall corner Jubliee and Harry Gwala Road Temba Hammanskraal | 011 351 7814 |
| Standard Bank Canal Walk | Shop 599, Upper Level, Canal Walk Shopping Center, Century Blvd, Century City | 021 529 8216 |
| Standard Bank Mitchell’s Plain Promenade | Corner AZ Berman Road And Morgenster Road, Mitchell’s Plain | 0860 123 000 |
| Standard Bank Simmonds Street | 5 Simmonds St, Selby, Johannesburg. | 011 631 1624 / 011 639 4205 |
| Standard Bank Newton Park | 1 Pickering St Newton Park Port Elizabeth | 041 404 8319 |
FNB
| Bank | Address | Contact Number |
| FNB Burgersfort | Shop 55 Twin City Complex Dirk Winterbach Street Burgersfort | 072 457 8619 / 013 216 0098 |
| FNB Centurion Lifestyle Centre | Cnr Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd Centurion Lifestyle Centre Centurion | 066 460 0530 / 012 653 2661 |
| FNB Cornubia | Shop U56, Cornubia Boulevard, Cnr N2 Highway & M41, Durban | 031 308 7900 |
| FNB Glen Shopping Centre | Shop U2, The Glen Shopping Centre, Glenvista | 061 495 4441 |
| FNB Greenpoint | Shop 1 & 2, ERF 176300, Media Quarter, Somerset Road, Greenpoint | 087 345 6090 |
| FNB Lynwood | Shop L04 Upper-level Cnr Simon Vermooten & Lynnwood Rd Equestria Pretoria | 066 460 0130 |
| FNB Merchant Place | 4 Merchant Place c/o Rivonia and Freedman Dr Sandton | 066 290 3307 |
Nedbank
| Bank | Address | Contact Number |
| Nedbank Arcadia | Shop 25, Nedbank Plaza, Beatrix Street, Arcadia | 066 460 0122 |
| Nedbank Constantia Kloof | 16 Constantia Boulevard Constantia Kloof Roodepoort | 011 639 4208 |
| Nedbank Nelspruit (Temporarily closed) | Shop 65 The Crossing Shopping Centre c/o Samora Machel and Madiba Drive Nelspruit | 081 336 5941 |
| Nedbank Rivonia | 135 Rivonia Road, Sandown, Sandton | 066 290 3257 |
| Nedbank St George’s Mall | Shop 3 The Box, St Georges Mall c/o Riebeeck Street | 0800 555 111 |
Absa
| Bank | Address | Contact Number |
| Absa Centurion Lifestyle Centre | Shop 36 c/o Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Road Centurion Lifestyle Centre Centurion | 066 460 0356 |
| Absa Key West Krugersdorp | Shop 80 Key West Shopping Centre cnr Paardekraal Drive and Viljoen Street Krugersdorp | 079 900 6457 |
| Absa Sandton City | Cnr Rivonia Road and 5th Street Sandton | 066 290 3314 |
| Absa Port Elizabeth | 682 Cnr. Bagshaw & Govan Mbeki Avenue, Port Elizabeth | 041 404 8319 |
Other banks
| Bank | Address | Contact Number |
| Discovery Bank Head Office | 1 Discovery Place, c/o Rivonia Road and Katherine Street, Sandton | 0860 998 877 |
| Investec Bank Sandown | 100 Grayston Dr Sandown Sandton | 011 286 7000 |
Loading ...
