The Government Printing Works (GPW) printed 30.8 million high security certificates and four million identity document cards in the 2025/2026 financial year, according to its production figures.
The GPW and the Department of Home Affairs briefed Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on their annual reports on Tuesday. The report showed that production of passport booklets, ID cards, examination books and high security certificates went up.
Chief financial officer Ian van der Merwe said the GPW stayed in a positive financial position during the year. He said total assets grew from R3.78 billion to R3.95 billion.
Inventories rose from R345 million to R585 million, he said. Money owed to the GPW by customers and others grew from R507 million to R572 million.
“Management is mindful of strengthening debt collection, timely invoicing, reconciling customer accounts and allocating receipts,” Van der Merwe said.
He said there were no material findings in the annual performance report. He also said earlier audit qualifications on property, plant and equipment, intangible assets, receivables and revenue had all been lifted.
Chief executive officer Alinah Fosi told the committee about progress on several projects. One of them is the new head office building.
Fosi said administration and operations management staff left the old office on Bosman Street. They moved into the new headquarters on Sophie de Bruyn Street from 20 October 2025.
She said the move gave staff a modern working space that would help improve service delivery and efficiency.
Fosi said the GPW is buying a new commercial printing facility, where commercial printing staff will be moved. She said the GPW contact centre is adding digital platforms, including self-service portals and natural voice telephone services.
The contact centre will handle customer questions, complaints and compliments, she said.
According to Fosi, the GPW’s ICT plan aims to make its work digital and automated so it runs more efficiently. She said an agreement between Home Affairs, the GPW, SARS and the Border Management Agency is being used for urgent work at the GPW.
Fosi said the Ministerial Review Panel made 166 recommendations for the GPW. Of these, 152 have been completed, she said.
“Management will continue to implement the remaining milestones, as some have dependencies on the implementation of international organisation for standardisation standards, while others depend on the outcome of investigations,” she said.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber and Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza have visited the GPW in Pretoria on an oversight visit.
Fosi said a new sheet-fed printing machine, meant to improve the GPW’s commercial printing, will be commissioned in the 2026/2027 financial year.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.