Department of Home Affairs Update: Regulation Changes

In March 2025, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) announced proposed amendments to Regulation 14 of the Identification Act, 1997, which included the introduction of new transaction fees. As part of the process, the DHA called for public comment, to which XDS submitted a formal response.

Following this process, the DHA issued a reply to the public comments on 13 June 2025 and confirmed that the final Regulations will be published in the Government Gazette by the third week of June. As it relates to fees, the Gazette will reflect the following:

• A fee of R10.00 (Ten Rand) per record for real-time biometric transactions.
• A fee of R1.00 (One Rand) per verification field for batch transactions that are not real-time and not biometric-based. Batch transactions will be processed either overnight or over weekends, depending on DHA system availability.

XDS is currently reviewing the response to ensure accurate interpretation and full compliance. We are seeking engagement with the DHA for clarification, where needed, and are exploring all available solutions to ensure there is no disruption to our services.  In addition, our teams will be arranging technical meetings with clients over the next two weeks to provide further guidance and support in light of these regulatory updates.

We remain committed to transparent communication and will share a further update as soon as our regulatory assessment is complete.