The Department of Home Affairs announced on Thursday that it has won the Public Service Delivery to Citizens Award for four of its projects to improve online service delivery.

The prize forms part of the Technology in Government in Africa Awards that are awarded every two years under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission in Africa.

The winners were announced in Addis Ababa at the end of April. The department said the projects for which it won are its automated fingerprint identification system, its operations management project that seeks to streamline the production of identity documents, its client service centre and its track and trace system.

The last allows people to check the status of their ID applications online.

"It is heartening that the international community deems fit to bestow this prestigious honour in recognition of the work that we are doing," the department said in a statement.

A recent US State Department report on terrorism criticised South Africa's home affairs department as being corrupt and poorly run.