For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: Home Affairs deal with Sars, BMA expands smart ID, passport services, and digitalises immigration; US lawmakers revive call for review of South African relations; And, Baffled Lesotho seeks to engage with US on 'shocking' tariffs

Home Affairs deal with Sars, BMA expands smart ID, passport services, and digitalises immigration

The Department of Home Affairs has teamed up with the Border Management Authority, Government Printing Works and the South African Revenue Service to integrate Home Affairs services with banking platforms to expand Smart ID and passport services to hundreds of bank branches as well as to banking apps.

The agreement will also see the upgrading of the Movement Control System at all ports of entry, and the introduction of Smart IDs for naturalised citizens and permanent residents.

The agreement was jointly signed by Sars Commissioner Edward Kieswetter, Home Affairs director-general Tommy Makhode, BMA Commissioner Michael Masiapato, and GPW CEO Alinah Fosi.

Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber said the agreement marked a new era that would fundamentally reform and improve the way that the South African government works.

Under the agreement, Home Affairs, the BMA and GPW will leverage the technology capacity within Sars to modernise all civics and immigration services.

Schreiber pointed to the launch of a new Electronic Travel Authorisation system to digitalise and automate immigration procedures to eliminate inefficiency and fraud.

The option to opt in for the secure courier delivery of documents will eliminate the need for document collection at Home Affairs offices.

US lawmakers revive call for review of South African relations

Two US lawmakers have introduced a bill to review South Africa’s ties with Washington, alleging that it supports America’s adversaries.

Ronny Jackson, a Texas Republican, said his proposed legislation would mandate a full assessment of the bilateral relationship between the countries. Michigan Republican John James, who brought forward a similar bill last year, co-sponsored the proposal.

Jackson alleges that South Africa has abandoned its relationship with the United States to align with China, Russia, Iran, and terrorist organisations.

The law would provide the tools “necessary to impose sanctions on corrupt South African government officials who choose to support America’s adversaries.”

Relations between Washington and Pretoria have deteriorated, with President Donald Trump freezing US aid to South Africa after claiming the nation seizes the land of White farmers and over its genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice. South Africa has not confiscated any private land since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Pretoria’s close ties with China and its refusal to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has also raised concern in the US.

And, Baffled Lesotho seeks to engage with US on 'shocking' tariffs

Lesotho scrambled to put together a delegation today to head to Washington to engage with the United States on tariffs that risk wiping out nearly half of its exports, its trade minister said, in what could be a death blow to its economy.

The 50% reciprocal trade tariff on the tiny southern African mountain kingdom was the highest levy on US President Donald Trump's list of target economies.

Trade Minister Mokhethi Shelile told parliament that the latest policy direction undertaken by the United States is shocking as it has been an important market for Lesotho, adding that the 45% of exports went to the United States.

He said that officials had already engaged the US embassy "to clarify and how, why Lesotho was included in the list of ... such high reciprocal tariffs".

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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