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Fingerprint checks to curb identity fraud
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RedditThe Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has conceded that extending online fingerprint verification to the banking sector will not curb fraud and corruption overnight.
Speaking at the launch of the online system – which will give banks access to the department’s database – Home Affairs minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma noted that securing information would be a process.
“We acknowledge that acts of corruption and fraud will not disappear overnight but will most certainly lay a basis for a major offensive in our national effort to push back the frontiers of fraud and corruption. We can only succeed to the extent to which we receive co-operation from the broader citizenry,” she said.
In October, Cabinet has welcomed a decision by the DHA to continue to provide banks with access to its fingerprint database – saying this would help curb identity fraud.
In terms of the agreement, the department allows banks online, real-time access to the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS) database to verify the identity of prospective and current clients.
The department hopes that the online system will assist the banks to curb identity related fraud and corruption while also allowing the DHA to protect the identities of South Africans and assisting in national effort to push back the frontier of fraud and corruption
“The launch today, comes against the background of national efforts to ensure the Department of Home Affairs takes its rightful place within the Justice and Crime Prevention Cluster (JCPS) of government while discharging its mandate as a security department.”
“In this context, we are of the view that the launch of the Online Fingerprint Verification System, by the Department of Home Affairs and SABRIC will add to the already existing momentum to protect and defend our common identity - the heritage of all South Africans,” said Dlamini-Zuma.
She added that government had confidence in the banking sector noting several banking institutions which were involved included FNB, Absa, Standard Bank, Mercantile Bank, African Bank and Capitec.
“This partnership underlines the confidence of the banking industry in the Department of Home Affairs as a reliable partner in defence of our identity and the restoration of the citizenship of all South Africans. It is our conviction that the launch today of the Online Fingerprint Verification System has laid a firm foundation for an advance to a more strategic partnership between our Department of Home Affairs and the banking sector, today,” she said.
