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Pic: Livhuwani Mammburu. BUSINESS DAY.

• VIDEO: Over 300 000 fingerprints unregistered-Home Affairs

More than 300 000 South Africans still not on the automated fingerprint system

35 home affairs officials dismissed this year alone for fraud

LIVHUWANI MAMMBURU

Published: 2011/09/23 03:28:48 PM

Director-General of the Home Affairs Department Mkhuseli Apleni says there are more than 300 000 people issued with identity documents who are not on the government™s automated fingerprints database.

Addressing the media in Pretoria, Mr Apleni said these individuals remained exposed to the risk of fraud and corruption through identity theft.

He said the department commissioned the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) in January 2000 to eliminate challenges with regard to manual fingerprint system.

“Thereafter, a back record conversion was undertaken and was successfully completed during 2008. A total of 34-million records were converted from paper to electronic format. By the end of March this year, the AFIS had 37-million fingerprint records in storage,” he said.

Mr Apleni said not all fingerprints could be converted from paper to electronic format due to poor quality.

“To date, of the 500 000 that could not be converted, the department is still left with more than 300 000 citizens that are still not on AFIS, although this citizens have been issued with identity documents.”

The department would soon announce measures to rectify the situation. It was rethinking a plan to publish the details of those affected, as fraudsters may use the information to their advantage.

“We still want to look at this to avoid criminality and we are also looking to see if there can be a facility within our offices to check whether one is registered or not,” he said.

Apleni said other problems in the manual system included poor fingerprint quality, and the fading of ink after years of storage.

He said the department remains on course to fight fraud and corruption.

Mr Apleni said from January to September this year, the department has dismissed 35 officials for involvement in corruption.

“Offences range from, amongst others, the fraudulent registration of births, fraudulent issuance of permits, fraudulent naturalization of citizenship, identity document fraud, bribery, fraudulent registration of deaths and assisting illegal foreigners enter SA,” he said.

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  VIDEO: Over 300 000 fingerprints unregistered-Home Affairs

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