The Department of Home Affairs‚ in partnership with StatsSA‚ has started the process of moving away from the old system of paper record-keeping to a modern efficient and secure storage method.
The department has 286 million records‚ 90% of which are in paper format.
“Most of these are records of births‚ marriages‚ deaths‚ ID applications‚ naturalisation and permitting and date back to the late 1800‚” Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said at the launch of the digitisation of birth records in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Gigaba said having primarily paper records had become a huge challenge because the space for housing them was scarce and expensive.
“The time required for staff to physically locate and access individual records means lead times of weeks and months for many transactions‚ such as amendments and reprints of older birth and marriage certificates‚” Gigaba said.
He said paper records were vulnerable to loss‚ deterioration and fire‚ despite the care with which they were stored.
“Digitising these records mean we will be able to access records quickly.”
He also said transactions which took weeks will now be completed for clients on the spot. One such example is the issuing of birth certificates.
Gigaba said modernising the department meant moving from a paper-based department with all the accompanying inefficiencies‚ slow processes‚ security risks and opportunities for corruption‚ to a digital department which is efficient‚ fast and secure.
He said digital records would enable more efficient business processes and would be easier and likely cheaper to store.
Gigaba said the department aimed to digitise 5.8 million birth records per year. He said the digitisation meant there would be immediate access to a digitised document irrespective of office location.
“Electronic records can be viewed/accessed by more than one person simultaneously. This eliminates the reliance on individuals for knowledge as the document is accessible by multiple staff.”
Department begins process of moving away from paper-based record-keeping to digital
The Department of Home Affairs‚ in partnership with StatsSA‚ has started the process of moving away from the old system of paper record-keeping to a modern efficient and secure storage method.
The department has 286 million records‚ 90% of which are in paper format.
“Most of these are records of births‚ marriages‚ deaths‚ ID applications‚ naturalisation and permitting and date back to the late 1800‚” Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said at the launch of the digitisation of birth records in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Gigaba said having primarily paper records had become a huge challenge because the space for housing them was scarce and expensive.
“The time required for staff to physically locate and access individual records means lead times of weeks and months for many transactions‚ such as amendments and reprints of older birth and marriage certificates‚” Gigaba said.
He said paper records were vulnerable to loss‚ deterioration and fire‚ despite the care with which they were stored.
“Digitising these records mean we will be able to access records quickly.”
He also said transactions which took weeks will now be completed for clients on the spot. One such example is the issuing of birth certificates.
Gigaba said modernising the department meant moving from a paper-based department with all the accompanying inefficiencies‚ slow processes‚ security risks and opportunities for corruption‚ to a digital department which is efficient‚ fast and secure.
He said digital records would enable more efficient business processes and would be easier and likely cheaper to store.
Gigaba said the department aimed to digitise 5.8 million birth records per year. He said the digitisation meant there would be immediate access to a digitised document irrespective of office location.
“Electronic records can be viewed/accessed by more than one person simultaneously. This eliminates the reliance on individuals for knowledge as the document is accessible by multiple staff.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos