The deadline for a the Department of Home Affairs’ public-private partnerships (PPP) with South Africa’s banks is drawing near, but none of the stakeholders are speaking up on what happens next.

South Africans have been able to apply for and renew Smart IDs and passports at over 25 bank branches for a few years as part of a PPP pilot between the DHA and participating banks.

The pilot was initially expected to end in March 2023, with home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi anticipating a full rollout, extending services to over 43 more branches.

However, this deadline was missed, with FNB revealing in April that the pilot was extended to September 2023.

Since then, however, progress on the project has fallen silent.

Queries on the next steps of project to the participating banks was met with a response that all questions should be directed to the DHA.

However, despite acknowledging receipt of the questions – and several follow-ups for weeks – the department has not returned any comment or given any indication that it will be commenting.

This puts into question the future of the pilot, which has seen huge demand from banking clients for the services and keen interest from the participating banks to continue offering them.

Previously, the DHA revealed that the big hurdle for the project were service levels at the department. Because the Home Affairs branches in the banks are satellite offices, they are still operate at Home Affairs levels of service – which are notoriously poor.

The banks specifically flagged SITA and system downtime as big problems. Because the DHA offices are in branded bank branches, poor services levels may reflect poorly on the banks and cause reputational damage.

While groups like FNB, Standard Bank, Absa and Nedbank have expressed interest in expanding the Home Affairs services, the entire project rests on the pilot ending with with a positive committment from the DHA.

Despite talking of 43 new offices being primed to open back in 2022, no new bank branches launched Home Affairs services this year so far.

The last bank branch to open for Home Affairs services was the Standard Bank, Kathu Mall branch, which opened at the end of 202 and is still operating in a trial mode.

Meanwhile, Home Affairs has focused its service expansion to several shopping malls in the country, and bolstering its mobile unit facilities to reach more remote areas.

These are the 27 bank branches that currently offer Smart ID and passport services:

• Standard Bank — 9
• FNB — 7
• Nedbank — 5
• Absa — 4
• Discovery Bank — 1
• Investec — 1

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Standard Bank

Bank	Address	Contact Number
Standard Bank Kathu Mall	Shop 62 Village Walk Shopping Centre Kathu, Hendrik Van Eck Street, Postmasburg	053 723 9610
Standard Bank Centurion	Cnr Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd Centurion Lifestyle Centre	012 671 4042
Standard Bank Killarney Mall	Killarney Mall, Riviera Rd, Killarney, Johannesburg	011 486 0002
Standard Bank Kingsmead	1 Kingsmead Way, Durban	031 308 7900
Standard Bank Jubilee Mall	Shop no. 47 Jubilee Mall corner Jubliee and Harry Gwala Road Temba Hammanskraal	011 351 7814
Standard Bank Canal Walk	Shop 599, Upper Level, Canal Walk Shopping Center, Century Blvd, Century City	021 529 8216
Standard Bank Mitchell’s Plain Promenade	Corner AZ Berman Road And Morgenster Road, Mitchell’s Plain	0860 123 000
Standard Bank Simmonds Street	5 Simmonds St, Selby, Johannesburg.	011 631 1624 / 011 639 4205
Standard Bank Newton Park	1 Pickering St Newton Park Port Elizabeth	041 404 8319

FNB

Bank	Address	Contact Number
FNB Burgersfort	Shop 55 Twin City Complex Dirk Winterbach Street Burgersfort	072 457 8619 / 013 216 0098
FNB Centurion Lifestyle Centre	Cnr Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Rd Centurion Lifestyle Centre Centurion	066 460 0530 / 012 653 2661
FNB Cornubia	Shop U56, Cornubia Boulevard, Cnr N2 Highway & M41, Durban	031 308 7900
FNB Glen Shopping Centre	Shop U2, The Glen Shopping Centre, Glenvista	061 495 4441
FNB Greenpoint	Shop 1 & 2, ERF 176300, Media Quarter, Somerset Road, Greenpoint	087 345 6090
FNB Lynwood	Shop L04 Upper-level Cnr Simon Vermooten & Lynnwood Rd Equestria Pretoria	066 460 0130
FNB Merchant Place	4 Merchant Place c/o Rivonia and Freedman Dr Sandton	066 290 3307

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Nedbank

Bank	Address	Contact Number
Nedbank Arcadia	Shop 25, Nedbank Plaza, Beatrix Street, Arcadia	066 460 0122
Nedbank Constantia Kloof	16 Constantia Boulevard Constantia Kloof Roodepoort	011 639 4208
Nedbank Nelspruit (Temporarily closed)	Shop 65 The Crossing Shopping Centre c/o Samora Machel and Madiba Drive Nelspruit	081 336 5941
Nedbank Rivonia	135 Rivonia Road, Sandown, Sandton	066 290 3257
Nedbank St George’s Mall	Shop 3 The Box, St Georges Mall c/o Riebeeck Street	0800 555 111

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Absa

Bank	Address	Contact Number
Absa Centurion Lifestyle Centre	Shop 36 c/o Lenchen and Old Johannesburg Road Centurion Lifestyle Centre Centurion	066 460 0356
Absa Key West Krugersdorp	Shop 80 Key West Shopping Centre cnr Paardekraal Drive and Viljoen Street Krugersdorp	079 900 6457
Absa Sandton City	Cnr Rivonia Road and 5th Street Sandton	066 290 3314
Absa Port Elizabeth	682 Cnr. Bagshaw & Govan Mbeki Avenue, Port Elizabeth	041 404 8319

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Other banks

Bank	Address	Contact Number
Discovery Bank Head Office	1 Discovery Place, c/o Rivonia Road and Katherine Street, Sandton	0860 998 877
Investec Bank Sandown	100 Grayston Dr Sandown Sandton	011 286 7000

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Read: Boost for Smart IDs and passports in South Africa