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Today we take pride in delivering to South Africa an important achievement. What we have achieved today will be at the foundation of many efforts which our Government will undertake for decades to come. We are at an important turning point in shaping the governance of the future. I am particularly proud to be the Minister who delivers this breakthrough, because for many years I have advocated the notion of addressing some of the problems that South Africa is confronting because of its backlog of underdevelopment, by leap-frogging ahead of what other nations are doing, rather than trying to catch up by retracing their evolutionary path. HANIS is a clear example of how South Africa can leap-frog ahead and set the basis to redress our grave and many shortcomings by implementing solutions which are ahead of the times.

The HANIS project is an electronic identification system which comprises all our citizens and residents, listing not only the relevant identification and civic affairs information, but also biometric features, such as fingerprints. It consists of two pillars, the identification cards and the automated fingerprints identification system, and allows the cross reference of fingerprints and identification information. With this system we will be able to eliminate any duplication of identity documents and ensure that a great number of identity related fraud and crimes can be prevented if not made impossible. This achievement will provide a great contribution to our fight against crime. However, this achievement will provide an even greater contribution in improving on the delivery of public services by Government as it sets the foundation for what is becoming known as e-governance.

South Africa is one of the few countries with a complete Population Register inclusive of the fingerprints of all our nationals. Most countries of the world envy us for this tool of governance, policing and security. For instance, just last week I received a delegation of the German Parliamentary Portfolio Committee from their Department of Interior which expressed its admiration for what we have achieved and will be liaising with our Department to learn more from our South African experience.

The history of this project dates back to the early eighties. This history shows how certain efforts can be pursued with continuity of administration but different policy slants. Originally, the drive towards the maintenance of a universal population register was motivated by the reasons and needs of the apartheid system and for purposes of racial classification. Many countries of the world do not have population registers and believe that individual freedom includes the right to anonymity, or are otherwise suspicious of the degree of social control which the state may acquire through a population register and the universal fingerprinting of its population. However, we have now changed the emphasis of the purposes for which this important tool of administration has been developed, shifting from social control to improved governance.

In the mid-eighties, the Department of Home Affairs realised the difficulty of manual fingerprinting management which could not be maintained in the face of an increased population. A study group to investigate automatic fingerprinting identification systems was established but it was soon realised that at that time the existing information technology had not developed to the stage of being capable of handling a database of an envisaged 40 to 60 million people. However, the Department realised it was just a matter of time before the industry would develop the technology further, and in the early nineties a further feasibility study was commissioned which produced a business plan which has served as the foundation of the present HANIS. In 1995, the decision was made to go ahead with the HANIS project and Cabinet approved it in January 1996.

A comprehensive tender was published on 6 December 1996 for the Home Affairs National Identification System. After a protracted tender process, which endured acute scepticism and severe attacks from various quarters, the tender was eventually awarded to the deserving MARPLESS Telecommunications Technologies consortium on 12 February 1999. On 8 November 1999 the Department signed a detailed supply contract with the contractor.

This history shows continuity of administration and a change in the philosophy of government. Throughout the process, the consulting firm Annexus headed by Peter Payne-Findlay remains the golden thread of continuity. We now have a tool of administration which will serve the cause of improved delivery of services and increase social security rather than socially oppressive policies. HANIS raises the technological floor of our country providing a multi-application system which can be used by several departments and the private sector alike.

The original HANIS project was based on a two dimensional bar-coded card which would serve the exclusive purpose of identification. Under my leadership, I requested that consideration be given to the tool of smart cards to ensure that we could have a multi-application system that would serve purposes other than just identification and would provide a much wider range of options and services, enabling our country to leap-frog ahead in a variety of directions. The tender originally won by MARPLESS did not address this new dimension of the HANIS project and, consequently, the Department embarked on a process aimed at considering ways and means of developing and implementing the smart card component that will later be integrated into the basic system which is being delivered today.

Smart cards will provide the primary function of identification but with a much greater flexibility of options and uses. In fact, the smart card will contain biometric information such as fingerprints and, as such, can be used by any branch of government and any private entity which adopts the system required to read it electronically. This will enable machines to read the card and, if the machine can take the biometric information and read the fingerprint, it will be able to identify the bearer without the need for a person to compare the picture on the card with the bearerūs appearance. By itself, this system will make the smart card a great contribution to the development of private sector initiatives as, for instance, it can be used for identification purposes in building access control or by vending machines which intend to restrict their products, such as cigarettes, to adults only.

There is another dimension to smart cards which is now under consideration. This dimension will be developed but it still remains to be decided the extent to which this will happen to ensure that the overall system does not become too cumbersome and complicated. This second dimension relates to the integration in the smart card of other applications to be conducted by the private sector and other government departments which may be given space on the smart card to write information pertaining to the delivery of their services. They will be using accepted sub-systems capable of performing this function. As you know, the most immediate use for such integrated function of the smart card relates to the delivery of pensions by the Departments of Welfare and Social Services. In all likelihood we will limit the integration of additional applications on the smart card to one or two additional services only so that on a pilot basis we can come to terms with the various difficult aspects of this learning curve, such as issues relating to the replacement of the card and the integration of sub-systemsū information in our mainframe.

This gives you the full measure of the potentials of the system which is being delivered today. The next stage will be developed in the next few months as soon as the recommendation of the Haysom Commission on how to structure the procurement of the smart card has been finalised. As you know, given the magnitude of this public procurement, I appointed a Commission headed by Professor Fink Haysom to ensure that the procurement of smart cards offers no opportunity for fraud, corruption or wastage and that our Government receives the best possible value for its money. I also looked at their recommendations to ensure that there is consistency between the present stage of development and the long- term future of this programme, and asked the Commission to receive public complaints and recommendations and be fully accessible to the public.

The HANIS project also lays the foundation for a profound reform in our delivery of civic affairs services. Because of the certainty and intrinsic added security which it adds to our management of information relating to civic affairs, it will now be possible to delegate the function of delivering civic affairs services to municipalities. As I have already indicated on prior occasions, this will be a long- term project which is now at its feasibility stage. In all likelihood, this delegation will be performed in a staggered fashion so as to begin from municipalities which already have the existing administrative capacity to handle it. Eventually, people will be able to get their identity documents, birth, marriage and death certificates directly from their municipalities which will issue them under their name, as is done in most other countries. The Department of Home Affairs will maintain the HANIS project and provide monitoring, supervision, capacity building and other functions to ensure that the system runs properly and adequately.

This dimension alone gives the full measure of the importance of this accomplishment and shows how through technological advances, South Africa is moving further ahead in its quest towards greater progress, modernity and efficiency. We are moving towards governing more efficiently and more effectively, which for me is the only way we can serve the goals of the Batho Pele campaign and realise the dream of an African Renaissance. Not only will we be able to curtail dramatically all identity related crimes, but we will also force a qualitative technologically-driven leap in the delivery of many other services by other branches of government. E-governance may now become a reality and I suspect that in ten years more applications will be based on the foundation of the HANIS programme and the use of smart cards than we can even envisage at this juncture. Once a new technological floor is created, all sectors of our society can build on it beyond that which one can anticipate. This is why I have for years been harping on the need to make massive technological investments to drive our country's overall economic growth and I am glad that I have been able to achieve this goal in my own Department.

The HANIS project will make it easier, faster and more secure for people to obtain services they are entitled to and will make it extremely difficult if not impossible for people who are not entitled to those services to receive them by means of identity fraud. HANIS will also make it possible for government to exercise a much greater degree of social control while facilitating a broad range of functions, including the updating and maintenance of a voters roll. I have also requested that consideration be given to the integration in HANIS of the movement control registry which records the entry and departure of foreigners. In this fashion, smart cards to be issued to foreigners may serve as their entry permit, their identity document while they are in South Africa and their departure record upon exiting the country.

However, as you all know, I am also a libertarian. Because of my political background I have always taken to heart the notion that one needs to remain vigilant to ensure that once acquired, liberties and freedoms are not placed in jeopardy by subsequent actions of government. HANIS is a powerful tool to govern better and more effectively and to serve our people and deliver to them a greater measure of public services. However, the possibility always exists that any greater measure of power opens the door to a greater measure of abuses. Any power without relevant checks and balances can always be open to abuse. For this reason, I have requested the Haysom Commission to make recommendations to me on how checks and balances can be put in place to avoid any possible abuse which may stem out of the utilisation of the HANIS project and to ensure that rights such as the right to privacy are fully protected. Their recommendation will identify whether administrative measures to deal with these issues, including the establishment of an ombudsman or dedicated grievance office, will be sufficient or whether there will be need for additional legislation.

In conclusion, I must thank all the officials of the Department who have been involved in this project for the past twenty years for their tireless work. Many people contributed to this project and it would almost feel unfair to mention anyone in particular. However, I am duty bound to recognise the work of the Deputy Director-General, Mr Ivan Lambinon, who began this process more than twenty years ago, and to provide very special recognition for the tireless, dedicated and courageous leadership provided to this process by my Chief Director for Information Technology, Mr Patrick Monyeki. He has been a real treasure in developing this process and a great asset not only for our Department but for the whole of the Republic. I count on his continuing leadership to bring the HANIS project to its full completion, especially in respect of the development of smart cards and the identification of the full potential of this technology.

I also wish to acknowledge the selfless efforts of other government departments, including the Departments of Communications, Health, Housing, Labour, National Intelligence, Social Development, Transport, as well as Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, for their active roles in developing this project. We also owe our gratitude to other bodies such as the South African Reserve Bank and many other private entities who have provided valuable inputs. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance of foreign governments who have provided us with valuable inputs on their experience, problems and solutions.

It is with great pride that I now receive on behalf of my Department and indeed the people of South Africa, the delivery of this important project. Today we are celebrating an occasion in which we as a country can rightly take pride. We are also marking a direction towards a better way of governing which suggests how the country can grow into the type of social stability and economic prosperity which I have dreamed of during so many decades of commitment in the public arena. It will take time before all the existing records are converted from their present state and captured in the new format required by HANIS. However, the process begins today and with it we are ushering in a new beginning which we hope will not only transform the quality and quantity of service delivery of Home Affairs, but possibly the whole of our government. I thank all those who made this possible and I ask all South Africans to bear with us as we take this new system through the unavoidable teething problems and initial difficulties which may characterise its start.

I thank you.

Issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, 18 February 2002