Johannesburg - The Gauteng Provincial Government and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have confirmed a new technological tool that will link the digital fingerprint system to SADC population registers.

This comes after the fire that killed 77 people after a five-storey building caught fire, resulting in the loss of life that has seen South African and non-South African residents and loved ones scramble to identify their loved ones who died in the blaze.

The provincial government led by Premier Panyaza Lesufi said it had committed itself to strengthening collaborations using technology to tackle the challenge of identifying people from other countries who die in the province without any form of documentation.

Lesufi and Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, engaged SADC leaders about the digital fingerprint system that is currently being used by the Gauteng Forensic Pathology Service mortuaries to identify the bodies of those who died.

According to the MEC, the system makes use of a biometric scanning system as well as third-party access to databases of the Department of Home Affairs, the SAPS and the National Credit Bureau to identify the dead. However, the system is not able to identify people from other countries at this stage.

However, Nkomo-Relehoko said the delegates to this engagement had agreed to fast-track the process to make it possible for non-South Africans to be linked through this system.

Lesufi said it was important to engage leaders and representatives of SADC countries given the high levels of travel and interactions between the province and other countries.

“What we are doing here is part of consulting stakeholders, and we believe that this is the beginning of better relations and co-operation among our respective countries so that we can assist one another in servicing our nationals,” Lesufi said.

During the deliberations, Lesufi thanked the ambassadors, high commissioners and representatives of SADC countries who honoured the invitation to collaborate to link the Digital Fingerprint System to SADC countries to ensure that their citizens get dignified burials at home.

According to Lesufi, the province had seen a large number of unidentified and stateless people, with about 1 859 bodies buried as paupers for the years 2022-23.

“Sometimes pauper burials result in families coming at a later stage to request the exhumation of their loved ones’ remains. In this financial year, there have been 248 exhumation requests that have cost the state R977 000.

“The recent Joburg inner city fire incident, which saw 77 deaths, further exposed the challenges posed by undocumented individuals.”

The Star