{"id":805630,"date":"2025-01-05T19:59:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T17:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=805630"},"modified":"2025-01-05T19:59:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T17:59:30","slug":"important-information-for-south-africans-who-still-have-green-id-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/805630\/important-information-for-south-africans-who-still-have-green-id-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Important information for South Africans who still have green ID books"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Home Affairs wants to eliminate green ID books in South Africa and has warned that those who still use them are at risk of fraud and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber warned South Africans with green ID books that they are extremely vulnerable to fraud and identity theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 16-page barcoded green ID book, launched in 1980, has not kept pace with technological advances, making it susceptible to modification and forgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tertius Wait, a cloud engineer at iiDENTIFii, said green ID books are susceptible to physical damage and can be compromised through general wear and tear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis fragility presents severe security risks, as damaged ID books can be easily altered or forged, making them unreliable for secure identification,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The green ID book is also impractical and inefficient. It requires in-person validation and is difficult to integrate into digital verification systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These weaknesses make it easy for criminals to use modified or forged ID books to hijack people\u2019s ID numbers and access credit, loans, and other financially services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) warned that identity theft is a serious problem in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scammers use people\u2019s personal information to acquire retail or bank accounts and defraud people’s insurance, medical aid, and Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn some instances, they impersonate you, and using social engineering, access your bank accounts and do transactions,\u201d SABRIC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TransUnion, South Africa’s largest credit bureau, said Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said because identity theft is a \u2018silent\u2019 crime, it can go undetected for months, even years, while victims have enormous debts run up in their name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many cases of identity theft are only discovered when the victim starts receiving accounts and letters of demand for debt they know nothing about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ID theft syndicates operating in South Africa sell fake Identity documents and identity profiles for very low prices, illustrating the problem with green ID books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Move away from green ID books<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The inherent weaknesses of green ID books mean the Department of Home Affairs is on a drive to eliminate them to combat fraud and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department wants all South Africans to replace their green ID books with smart ID cards, which are far more secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart ID cards feature a chip storing the holder\u2019s data, which is laser-engraved to prevent tampering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GCIS CEO Phumla Williams said smart ID cards cut down on the fraudulent use of fake or stolen IDs, which is a major concern in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister warned South Africans who still use green ID books that they are at risk of having their identities stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza added that many people, including Home Affairs officials, were engaged in unlawful activity related to green ID books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nzuza said they are working hard to eliminate green barcoded ID books and become a \u2018digital office\u2019 to root out fraud and corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schreiber previously revealed that the Department of Home Affairs aims to issue 2.5 million smart ID cards this financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe ultimately want everyone to get the smart ID. It will help the government if everyone has a more secure ID document,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Home Affairs encourages people to replace their green ID book with a smart ID card through a Home Affairs branch or bank branches that offer the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are currently 30 bank branches where people can get smart IDs, with more in the pipeline. It will also expand into shopping malls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Home Affairs is also investing in technology to become fully automated in the next five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will enable South Africans to renew their passport or apply for a new Smart ID without visiting a Home Affairs office in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department plans to courier passports, Smart IDs, and other documents directly to the person\u2019s door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Home Affairs wants to eliminate green ID books in South Africa and has warned that those who still use them are at risk of fraud and corruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":778978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[6239,20613,20612,6230],"class_list":["post-805630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-department-of-home-affairs","tag-green-id-books","tag-leon-schreiber","tag-smart-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":805631,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805630\/revisions\/805631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}