{"id":862830,"date":"2026-06-07T18:39:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T16:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=862830"},"modified":"2026-06-07T18:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T16:41:18","slug":"ramaphosa-says-the-green-id-book-is-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/862830\/ramaphosa-says-the-green-id-book-is-ending\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramaphosa says the green ID book is ending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa says that the green ID book is coming to an end, with the state looking to cut back on illegal immigration in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his address to South Africa following a widespread rise of xenophobia, the President said that the nation is creating an integrated population register. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This register will contain all biometric information of all South Africans, which will allow for a new digital ID for all South Africans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the nation will continue to cut back on the green ID book, as they have allowed for identity theft from undocumented immigrants and criminal syndicates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Home Affairs will also set a date after which the green ID book will no longer be recognised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa has been making a broader push to cut green ID books due to their risk of fraud. As per this plan, Home Affairs has expanded its partnerships with banks to offer Smart ID systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the partnership relaunched in March, the number of bank branches offering Home Affairs systems rose from 30 to over 100, with Capitec joining the trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President added that the nation will also end the abuse of the traffic registration number service, which many foreign nationals need to buy vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are being used by many as a form of identification. The Department of Transport will issue new regulations to align with the nation’s identity laws within the next three months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weak economy to blame<\/h2>\n\n\n
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South Africa has seen a rapid rise in public instances of xenophobia in recent weeks, with marches taking place across the country against foreigners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several African countries have highlighted this increased xenophobia. Ghana and Nigeria have recently stepped up efforts to repatriate their citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramaphosa said that many South Africans are struggling with unemployment, poverty and a lack of opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this lack of available options, he said that many South Africans direct their anger at foreigners seen as competing for jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the President admitted that the root causes of the issues facing South Africa are slow economic growth and a lack of investment, not illegal immigration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nation’s GDP has grown between 0.6% and 1% over the last three years, with 2026 expected to only see 1% growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With South Africa seeing around 1.5% population growth, the nation is technically in a GDP per capita recession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramaphosa said that the nation must focus on faster economic growth, greater investment, infrastructure development and the creation of millions of jobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although not the root cause of South Africa’s issues, the President still stated that foreigners working in the country must do so legally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he said that enforcing migration laws is a matter for the state alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He admitted that the migration system in South Africa has faced weaknesses when it comes to enforcement and corruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that decisive action is being taken to address shortcomings in the immigration system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that the state must be able to reinforce migration laws. However, he made it clear that only government officials are allowed to enforce migration laws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that citizens cannot force a foreigner to show their documentation. Despite notable instances of xenophobia, the President said that South Africans are not xenophobic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to preventing illegal migration, he said that the cabinet has adopted a comprehensive approach to migration matters, with support from provincial and local authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first phase of action will be a broader crackdown on illegal immigrants in South Africa, led by the Border Management Authority of Home Affairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dedicated courts for illegal migration are also being established. The South African Police Service, Home Affairs and the Department of Labour are also working to crack down on employers who employ illegal foreigners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that employers who hire illegal foreigners are also at risk of imprisonment. Home Affairs officials who abuse their power have also been warned about dismissal and criminal charges. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Cyril Ramaphosa says that the green ID book will no longer be issued due to identity theft risks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":859701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[2524],"class_list":["post-862830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-home-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862830","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\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862830"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":862836,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862830\/revisions\/862836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}