Goodbye green ID books in South Africa

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has laid out big plans and targets for the rollout of Smart IDs in South Africa, with the ultimate aim of bidding farewell to the Green ID book in the next few years.

Speaking at the IEC Conference & Exhibition on Electronic Voting Technologies this week, Schreiber said that the Department of Home Affairs aims to make the Smart ID rollout widely available as soon as possible.

He previously stated that he wants Smart IDs available to all qualifying South Africans by the end of the 2025 calendar year.

This should have a meaningful impact on the 2026 local elections, he said, and then open the way to discontinuing the Green ID books.

With the Smart ID rollout, the minister said that the DHA is determined to “expand access to Smart IDs at a scale never seen before”.

He said this will be done by building on the successful pilot project that has rendered ID and passport services in about 30 bank branches over the past decade.

“It is now time to scale this to hundreds or even a thousand bank branches so that all South Africans can obtain Smart IDs much closer to where they live,” he said.

“This will enable us to eventually discontinue the green bar-coded ID book, which is far more prone to fraud than the Smart ID.”

Home Affairs had originally planned to phase out the green ID book sometime between 2018 and 2022.

However, the department can’t invalidate the document until everyone can obtain a replacement smart ID card—hence the focus on granting full access by the end of 2025.

New digital ID

On top of the Smart ID rollout, Schreiber said the department will look at implementing a fully digital ID system in South Africa, which he aims to have going by the next national election in 2029.

Schreiber said his department is already developing the infrastructure required for a secure digital identity platform.

“This will enable not only enable South Africans to securely store their IDs and other official documents on a smartphone, but will also provide a verifiable credential for each citizen and permanent resident,” he said.

This will enable Home Affairs to virtually certify the identity of every person in the country based on their unique facial or fingerprint biometrics.

The digital ID system has been promoted by President Cyril Ramaphosa and supported by other government departments, like the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

Such systems typically work using a unique digital identifier (UDI) and an accompanying card.

Any transaction with the government could be attached to the UID to ensure that the various government branches could know exactly who they were dealing with.

Identities can be authenticated with fingerprints. Once authenticated, things like state subsidies can be transferred directly to a bank account linked to the ID.

“By the time of the next national and provincial elections in 2029, we want to have a fully functional digital ID system,” Schreiber said.

However, the minister stressed that the focus is first on granting full access to Smart IDs.

This process has not been without its constraints, with the minister admitting to significant IT blockages hampering access to Smart IDs for naturalised citizens and permanent residents in particular.

Several frustrated naturalised citizens and permanent residents have contacted BusinessTech about being turned away at branches after getting notices to apply for Smart IDs.

Schreiber said that IT constraints are a serious obstacle, and the department is working to resolve these issues urgently.

While work is being done to expand access to all through IT system changes, the DHA is manually assisting naturalised citizens with the Smart IDs.

This is done through invitations to prospective applicants and entails a manual verification that limits access.