The Department of Home Affairs is considering launching a premium service that would allow South Africans to pay extra to fast-track their document applications.This is according to Thomas Sigama, the Deputy Director-General for Civic Services at Home Affairs, who was answering questions before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs.Home Affairs is responsible for identity documents and smart IDs, passports, marriage certificates, birth certificates, and death certificates. It also issues various permits, including permanent residency and work visas.When all is well, and we have already concluded our tests¦ we will come and present those initiatives to the committee, Sigama said.Sigama made his comments following a presentation on the departments efforts to combat corruption and fraud affecting South Africas identity documents, including passports and visas.A report from the Counter Corruption and Security Services branch at Home Affairs revealed that between April 2022 and September 2024, 727 cases have been investigated.Data analysis uncovered the involvement of South African citizens, officials and foreign nationals in the unlawful processing of South African passports at different Home Affairs offices during the day and night,its presentation stated.Following multi-disciplinary investigations, Home Affairs said thirteen people, including the kingpin behind the passport fraud scheme, received jail sentences ranging from 4 to 26 years.Another 21 people involved in the passport photo swap scheme are still awaiting criminal trial.âSome matters are still under investigation with the Hawks, and more arrests are imminent, the counter-corruption branchs presentation said.In addition to investigating domestic officials, the branch also said that there have been cases against Home Affairs and Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) officials stationed at foreign missions.These include the High Commissions in Accra (Ghana), Beijing (China), and Tunisia (North Africa).Investigators visited the High Commission in Accra to investigate the unlawful processing of visa applications by an official who was at the Assistant Director level. The matter was referred to Employee Engagement and subsequently to the multi-disciplinary task team.In Beijing, investigators looked into the unlawful processing of inter-company transfer visas by two officials. The matter was also referred, with one official dismissed and another resigning.The Tunisian investigation involves the 95 Libyan nationals who were arrested in Mpumalanga, where they were undergoing security training.Home Affairs said Dirco officials issued study visas to the individuals. The foreigners have been deported and the case referred to Dirco for further handling.The counter-corruption branch said its main challenge was a lack of capacity, as it was operating at 28% of its staff complement.This increases the time it takes to finalise investigations, and prevents it from conducting more awareness programmes and implementing prevention measures such as big data analytics.The Department of Home Affairs has said that its long-term goal to eliminate fraud and corruption was to digitally transform the institution and minimise opportunities for human intervention in document applications.Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber has said their future end-to-end digital platform that will handle all applications, adjudications, and communications between South Africans and the department.After an online application for an ID, passport, certificate, or visa is submitted, a machine-learning-based risk engine will verify the completeness of the application.The system will authenticate users, check for fraudulent documents, conduct facial recognition checks, cross-reference databases, process cashless transactions, and communicate the outcome to the applicant  all within seconds.No more standing in queues, no more waiting months or years for an outcome, no more being kept in the dark about the status of an application, Schreiber said.And no more space for officials or syndicates to solicit bribes for a transaction to be processed.Once the system is in place, Schreiber said Home Affairs could deliver services to South Africans anywhere in the world.There is also no logical reason why we cannot offer a service where IDs and passports are delivered to the door of the applicant anywhere in the world  again, exactly like we already do in the banking sector with debit and credit cards, he said.The platform will allow citizens to access Home Affairs services online through a secure portal, comparable to widely used online banking platforms.Schreiber said they could create secure profiles of every citizen and visitor to South Africa using existing facial and fingerprint recognition technology, such as the Face ID and fingerprint features found on smartphones.He said if the department gets this right, the need to visit Home Affairs for routine transactions will be eliminated.This shift would also enhance the work environment for department staff, allowing them to focus on more exciting and productive tasks.This would include devoting our staff to serving those who truly need it most, said Schreiber.Including the poorest members of our society, people in rural areas, the 10% of South Africans who dont yet use smart devices, and those exceptional or complicated cases that require more resources to resolve.