South Africa’s green ID book will no longer be a valid form of identification from 31 March 2028. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber made the announcement on Thursday.
Schreiber said the department will stop making the booklet a year earlier, on 31 March 2027. He said that on that date “the machines that produce this booklet will be permanently shut down and decommissioned”.
He spoke in a speech marking the halfway point of the government of national unity’s term. About 14.7 million citizens and permanent residents still hold only a green ID book. They will then have another 12 months to switch to a smart ID card.
“The continued use of the green ID book is irreconcilable with the functioning of a modern society,” Schreiber said.
He linked the deadline to fraud. He said the paper book, with its photo stuck in by hand, is one of the most defrauded documents in Africa. He called it a “critical pull factor” for illegal immigrants looking for fake papers.
Before production ends, Schreiber said, home affairs will offer smart ID cards to naturalised citizens, permanent residents and South Africans living abroad. These groups were left out in the past. First-time applicants and people over 60 will still pay no application fee.
The announcement turns a promise made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in June into a fixed date. Ramaphosa had committed to setting a date after which the book would not be recognised. Schreiber had earlier set a 2029 target for phasing it out.
The plan relies on moving smart ID services into bank branches. Schreiber said 515 bank branches now offer walk-in smart ID replacements with no appointment needed. He said an application can take as little as five minutes.
He said more than 822,000 people have used the bank service since it started in March. By the end of 2026, he said, it will be offered at more than a thousand service points. Before the unity government was formed, 214 places offered smart ID replacements.
Capitec said in its interim results on Wednesday that it had processed more than 594,000 smart ID applications since March. The bank said this was done at 248 of its branches.
Schreiber said passport applications and first-time smart ID applications will “shortly” be added at bank branches. He said applicants will also be able to have IDs and passports delivered to their homes by courier.
According to Schreiber, the number of people with only a green ID book has dropped from 16 million to 14.7 million. He said this was due to the bank partnership.
The minister said the bank roll-out is one of three main projects in his reform plan. The others are an electronic travel authorisation system for visas and a digital ID on smartphones.
Schreiber said home affairs will run a national communications campaign before the deadline. He said the department will also set out new priorities for 2027 and beyond.
Source: this article is based on reporting by TechCentral. Image: TechCentral. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Technology desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Werner Jacobs covers technology for Tzaneen Voice. Werner reports on mobile networks, data prices, internet access, smartphones, apps, AI, cybersecurity and South African tech companies. Each story explains what a new product, price change or policy means for ordinary users in South Africa.