Home Affairs says system downtime at its offices has fallen by 61% in the 2025/26 financial year. Image: AI Generated.
Leon Schreiber
1Min
South Africa
Home Affairs cuts ‘system offline’ incidents by 61% as digital reforms take hold
Home Affairs says system downtime at its offices has fallen by 61% in the 2025/26 financial year, with South Africans spending significantly less time waiting for services to resume as the department upgrades its digital infrastructure.
The Department of Home Affairs has recorded a 61% reduction in working hours lost to system downtime, marking a significant improvement in the reliability of its services.
The department said total working time lost to “system offline” incidents dropped from 35,426 hours in 2024/25 to 13,867 hours in 2025/26.
Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber welcomed the improvement, attributing it to a series of digital reforms aimed at addressing longstanding weaknesses in the department’s technology systems.
The reforms include upgrading network infrastructure, modernising front-office applications, replacing ageing equipment and removing single points of failure that previously resulted in offices being offline for extended periods.
Further measures are also being introduced to improve real-time monitoring of system performance.
All provinces record improvements
According to the department, all nine provinces recorded improvements in system uptime.
The Free State recorded the biggest improvement at 79%, followed by Mpumalanga at 68% and Gauteng at 66%.
The Western Cape recorded a 65% improvement, while KwaZulu-Natal followed at 63%.
Northern Cape recorded a 62% improvement, while Limpopo achieved a 43% improvement. North West recorded a 41% improvement.
The department said the figures demonstrate the impact of targeted investment in its digital infrastructure.
Smart ID services expand to banks
Schreiber said the reduction in downtime comes alongside an expansion of Home Affairs services beyond traditional departmental offices.
More than 408 bank branches have rolled out digital Smart ID services over the past five months, allowing citizens to access certain Home Affairs services at participating banks.
Schreiber said the department was simultaneously expanding access while improving the quality and reliability of services at its offices.
“The remarkable 61% reduction in working hours lost to system downtime represents the latest milestone on our digital transformation journey,” said Schreiber.
He said the reforms had created a “virtuous cycle” in which improved technology was helping the department expand access while also improving the experience for people using its services.
‘Work is not yet complete’
Despite the progress, Schreiber acknowledged that further work remains to be done.
He said citizens using the new bank-based services and departmental offices were already experiencing improvements compared with previous years, when system failures often disrupted applications and resulted in long delays.
“The dramatic improvements delivered in just 24 months serve as motivation for us to further enhance access and service delivery through digital transformation to ensure we deliver dignity for all,” Schreiber said.
The department said its digital transformation programme will continue as it works to improve system reliability and make Home Affairs services more accessible to South Africans.
