Minister Leon Schreiber: Xpatweb Annual Global Mobility Conference

Programme Director, 
Marisa Jacobs, Managing Director of Xpatweb, 
Representatives from business, industry and the immigration profession, 
Members of the diplomatic corps, 
Distinguished guests, 
Ladies and gentlemen, 
Good afternoon. 

Thank you to the Xpatweb team for the invitation. It is a pleasure to once again engage with all of you following our discussion in 2024.  It is a privilege to be back amongst so many of the people and organisations that play such an important role in connecting South Africa to the global economy. When I first addressed the Xpatweb community in 2024, I had been Minister of Home Affairs for only a few weeks. 

At the time, I argued that Home Affairs should no longer be viewed merely as an administrative department responsible for issuing documents and processing visa applications. In addition to its central roles in national security and civic administration, it also had to be regarded as an economic enabler, because every decision taken by Home Affairs has the potential to influence investment, tourism, skills, and economic growth. Just yesterday, we reached our latest milestone in this quest by gazetting the intake for the next phase of the Trusted Employer Scheme. The scheme is now even bigger and better than before, as we have expanded it to focus on major infrastructure projects, companies setting up headquarters in South Africa, and the financial services sector, while cutting red tape and digitalising its administration. 

I encourage all interested companies to consider applying to the Trusted Employer Scheme before 4 September by just visiting the Home Affairs website. But our vision to transform Home Affairs from the most maligned department in government into a world leader extends well beyond this important project. What we are working on is a revolution in the entire Home Affairs – and government – operating model. 24 months ago, many people understandably questioned whether such fundamental reform was even possible.  After decades of paper-based and manual processes, as well as fragmented systems and growing backlogs, few believed that Home Affairs could become a modern, digital-first department. Just two years later, we are comprehensively proving the cynics wrong. The work is not yet complete. 

But we have moved beyond just endlessly talking about reform, to implementing it. Every day, of every week, of every month, we are working to implement, implement and implement – with the urgency required in a country facing enormous challenges, including a 32% unemployment rate. Our reform programme is called Home Affairs @ home, and it is built around the embrace of digital transformation to decentralise access to all our services. Instead of forcing 63 million South Africans to visit just over 300 physical Home Affairs offices, and instead of forcing tourists and other legitimate travellers to stand in long queues to submit visa applications, Home Affairs @ home uses technology to securely bring our services directly to our clients. The programme rests on three pillars. The first is transforming how South Africans access existing Home Affairs services.  

Through our ground-breaking digital partnership with the banking sector, we are undertaking the biggest expansion of access to Home Affairs services since the advent of democracy.  

Today, South Africans can apply for Smart ID Cards at more than 300 participating bank branches without a shred of paperwork, without making an appointment, and without standing in long queues.  422 119 applications have already been processed through this new digital partnership in a little over four months after we launched it. Prior to the rollout of this project, there were only 214 Home Affairs offices where a South African could obtain a replacement Smart ID. Thanks to the 327 bank branches we brought online in the past few weeks, that number now stands at 541. This means we have expanded access to this critical service by an incredible 250% in the past 19 weeks. 

This number will grow to over 750 branches by the end of the year, expanding access by over 400% in a matter of months. We have delivered all of this without any increase in headcount or budget, and the partnership has not meant any additional cost for taxpayers.  Ladies and gentlemen, through this reform, we are literally doing 400% more with exactly the same budget that I inherited. That is the power of reform. And we are far from done. By the end of this year, citizens will also be able to obtain Passports at all of these bank branches. So will adults and minors applying for a Smart ID for the first time. And, before the end of 2026, citizens will have the option of courier delivery of their ID and Passport, directly to their own doorstep. 

Home Affairs @ home. By expanding access to Smart ID services at this unprecedented scale and rate, we will also be able to shortly announce the roadmap towards the discontinuation of the Green ID book, which will strike a powerful blow against fraud, identity theft, and eliminate a key pull factor for illegal immigration. The second pillar of our reform programme is Digital Identity. This entails the creation of secure and verifiable digital versions of Home Affairs products. Earlier this year, we published draft regulations for public comment.  

We are now carefully considering all submissions as we finalise the regulatory framework for a trusted digital identity ecosystem. Just as millions of people today choose to keep a bank card in their wallet while also using a secure digital version on their smartphone, South Africans will soon have access to a trusted Digital ID on their mobile device while continuing to use a physical identity document whenever they choose. Use of the system will be voluntary, and will co-exist alongside the physical Smart ID card for anyone who prefers to use one or the other, or both. Digital ID will completely decentralise access to enabling documents right into the hands of South Africans, eliminating the need for physical applications or long queues altogether.  

In this way, Digital ID will be the ultimate expression of Home Affairs @ home. This same philosophy is also transforming our country’s immigration system. Just as we are modernising how South Africans interact with their civic documents, we are also modernising how the world interacts with South Africa's visa system. Our flagship reform on immigration is the Electronic Travel Authorisation. When I addressed the Xpatweb community in 2024, the ETA still existed as an ambitious proposal.  Today, it is live for short-stay visitors from four countries – with much more on the way shortly. The ETA constitutes the most significant reform to our immigration in South African history. The reason is simple. The ETA is not just digitising a paper-based process.  

It is replacing an entire operating system with a modern, intelligent platform that will give South Africa one of the most sophisticated visa processing systems anywhere in the world. For decades, immigration systems around the globe largely relied on paperbased applications, manual verification and human judgement exercised after an application reaches an official's desk.  Today's world demands something far more advanced. That is why the ETA uses machine learning, biometric verification and automated risk analysis to process applications more efficiently while simultaneously strengthening the integrity of our immigration system. Importantly, instead of forcing every prospective visitor in need of a visa to visit only a handful of physical locations around the world, the ETA decentralises the entire process onto a smart device, eliminating the need to stand in any queues. Once again, Home Affairs @ home. 

The ETA was launched last year as a targeted pilot for travellers from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico – the four visa-required countries participating in the G20 Leaders' Summit hosted by South Africa.  Since that initial pilot, the system has already processed over 203 000 applications, demonstrating both the scale of demand and the potential of the platform as we expand it to more countries and visa categories. During the same period, the system identified more than 5 700 fraudulent applications that were rejected after machine learning detected fraudulent passports, manipulated documents, and other indicators of fraud before those travellers could even board a flight to South Africa. This security capability simply did not exist before. 

No immigration official, no matter how experienced or dedicated, could manually compare every passport and supporting document against millions of data points within seconds.  But the ETA now can. But what excites me most is that the ETA was never conceived as a single digital visa application. From the outset, it was designed as the digital operating system that will underpin South Africa's entire future immigration system. Earlier this year, we activated the extension module for visitor visas for an additional 90 days through the ETA.  

For the first time, qualifying visitors already in South Africa – including visa exempt travellers – will soon be able to apply digitally to extend their stay, replacing an outdated paper-based process that often required in-person visits, lengthy delays and unnecessary uncertainty. The ETA is more than a new digital service.  It is a quantum leap into South Africa’s future. It demonstrates that we do not need to only tinker at the edges of catastrophically broken systems. But that through bold, reform-minded leadership, we replace them entirely. By the end of this year, we plan to expand the ETA beyond tourist visas into additional visa categories, beginning with categories such as study visas. This will mark a major shift from a digital visitor visa system to a comprehensive digital immigration platform, through which South Africa will increasingly manage the full range of immigration services. 

I want to read to you a post I came across on LinkedIn from an Indian entrepreneur who recently visited South Africa for the first time. His post about his wonderful visit starts like this:  “Some journeys give you memories. Others give you hope. My South Africa experience began with a delightful surprise. I applied for an [ETA] and received a one-year multiple-entry visa in just eight minutes…Immigration at Cape Town airport took me less than two minutes. It was perhaps the smoothest travel experience I’ve ever had.” This is what over 203 000 travellers have already quietly experienced through the ETA website and arrival counters at our international airports. And as we systematically scale up the ETA to more countries and visa categories over the coming months, it is the experience that every legitimate traveller to South Africa will have.  

It is no exaggeration to say that the Home Affairs ETA is set to transform South Africa’s visa system from one of the most broken in the world, into a global leader. Alongside our administrative reforms, Cabinet's adoption of the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection is another important milestone.  It provides the long-term policy framework for a modern immigration system that attracts investment, tourism and critical skills, while protecting the integrity of our borders and ensuring that our laws are effectively enforced. Our aim is to introduce a bill to Parliament that gives effect to the Revised White Paper at the beginning of the next financial year. 

Ladies and gentlemen, When I addressed this audience in 2024, I asked you not to measure Home Affairs by our plans, but by our implementation. I believe that remains the only test that matters. In 2024, we set out a vision to transform Home Affairs into a digital-first department that enables economic growth, strengthens national security and delivers dignity for all. Today, that vision is becoming a reality – and pointing the way to our country’s future. 422 119 South Africans have experienced that future at their local bank branch. Over 203 000 foreign nationals, including the 5 700 who were declined for fraudulent applications, have experienced that future on the ETA website and at the arrivals counter. 

Our digital transformation is reshaping how people interact with Home Affairs, from our digital partnership with the banking sector to the secure Digital Identity ecosystem we are building. Our immigration reforms are replacing bureaucracy with a modern, risk-based system that attracts investment and critical skills while strengthening the integrity of our borders, supported by the ETA, the Trusted Employer Scheme and the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. Our identity reforms are building a more secure Population Register by replacing the fraud-prone Green ID Book with the Smart ID Card, and laying the foundation for South Africa's digital economy. These are not isolated initiatives. 

They are the very building blocks of a modern country, fit-for-purpose in the digital age. Of course, much work remains. Transforming a department after years of institutional decline cannot happen overnight, and we do not pretend otherwise.  But if the past two years have demonstrated anything, it is that meaningful reform at Home Affairs is not only possible, but accelerating with every day. Our task now is to sustain that momentum. To continue implementing reforms with urgency. To continue building a Home Affairs that is digital-first, secure and efficient. To continue replacing centralisation with decentralisation through Home Affairs @ home. To continue delivering dignity for all. That is the future of Home Affairs. That is the future of government in South Africa. And that future is now. 

Thank you. 

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