JOHANNESBURG The South African government is adopting more punitive measures against Zimbabweans using fraudulently obtained identity documents. According to information made available to The Zimbabwean, South Africas Home Affairs ministry has entered into an agreement that will see the countrys banking institutions doing online fingerprint checks on all their clients.
The agreement is aimed at fighting rampant fraud and identity theft involving foreigners, most of them Zimbabwean nationals.
Phase one of the new measures was tested last year and has already been given a thumbs-up by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which says that the plan is very feasible, a banking source told The Zimbabwean late last week.
South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kalyani Pillay, said last week that the over 10 banks under Sabrics fold would be required to implement the new system soon after the second phase of the programme was brought in.
“We are excited about the prospects of this unique project as we anticipate that it will assist the banks in reducing application fraud and identity theft, said Pillay.
Home affairs director general, Mavuso Msimang, said the project meant public-private sector collaboration to combat identity crime, but assured the public that their private information would not be compromised.
“It’s controlled because we want to ensure that banks only get what they need and this excludes private information,” said Msimang.
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