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Home Affairs is hiring 10,000 unemployed graduates to digitise 350 million paper records

Source: Business Insider SA, 12/08/2022

•South Africa`s department of home affairs has more than 350 million civic paper records detailing births, marriages, deaths, and amendments dating back to 1895.
• Sifting through these paper documents is a major headache for both the department and South Africans.
• That`s why the department of home affairs is hiring 10,000 unemployed youth graduates to digitise these paper documents.
• Job adverts for the first intake of recruits are due to be published on Friday, with the project expected to last for three years.
• Recruits can earn between R5,000, for entry-level positions, to R14,250 for manager-level positions.
South Africa`s department of home affairs will recruit 10,000 unemployed youth graduates to digitise more than 350 million civic paper records over the next three years, according to Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
The department of home affairs is clogged by more than 350 million civic paper records detailing births, marriages, deaths, and amendments dating back to 1895. The lack of digital copies of these records stifles home affairs` already overburdened processes, causing frustrating delays for South African applicants.
`Quite often, South Africans complain bitterly about the delays they experience when they apply for unabridged birth certificates, unabridged marriage certificates, amendments, and rectification of their biographic details,` said Motsoaledi during a media briefing on Thursday morning.
`This is because to finalise all these applications, Home Affairs officials have to manually search for original documents among these 350 million manual records. Obviously, such a tedious process will take a long time, which people may not be aware of. This leads to frustration when people have to make several visits to Home Affairs.`
To answer this problem, the department of home affairs has committed to hiring 10,000 unemployed youth graduates who will be tasked with digitising these paper documents. These recruits should be qualified in Information Technology �` specifically, document, information, and records management �` obtained from institutions of higher learning.
The first phase of the recruitment process will begin in August, said Motsoaledi, with adverts for the intake of 2,000 unemployed youth graduates available on Friday. This first group of recruits will `assume duty` on 1 November 2022.
The department will recruit a further 4,000 unemployed youth graduates in October and the remaining 4,000 in December.
`This cohort will be required to sign a three-year contract linked to the duration of the project,` said Motsoaledi, noting that the project would run until October 2025.
`Successful youth will be paid a stipend ranging from R5,000 for entry-level positions to R9,500 for technical support level positions, and R14,250 for manager-level positions.`
Candidates will be able to apply for work within the digitisation project through the department of home affairs and department of employment and labour websites.
`Those that don`t have access to the internet can visit their closest labour centre of the department of employment and labour,` said Motsoaledi.
`In this month of women, and to honour the heroines of the 1956 march to the Union Buildings, we wish to announce that 60% of the intake will be of young women and only 40% will be young men.`
Training will also be offered to new recruits relevant to the job for which they are contracted to perform.
`Once the records are digitised, Home Affairs officials will have access to them at a click of a button and would be able to finalise the applications instantly,` added Motsoaledi.
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