{"id":645676,"date":"2026-05-07T20:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=645676"},"modified":"2026-05-07T20:18:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:18:27","slug":"end-of-an-era-for-green-id-books-and-smart-id-cards-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/government\/645676-end-of-an-era-for-green-id-books-and-smart-id-cards-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"End of an era for green ID books and Smart ID cards in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa\u2019s new digital ID system will give citizens an alternative to physical green ID books and Smart ID cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2026, the Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, announced that the department was developing a cutting-edge digital ID system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will allow citizens to access enabling documents directly on their smartphones, similar to online banking, secured by biometric technology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, the government gazetted draft amended regulations under the Identification Act of 1997. It is open for public comment until 6 June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft regulations propose the creation of secure Digital Identity credentials that will co-exist alongside the Department of Home Affairs\u2019 physical products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system will enable citizens to securely store, access and use digital versions of Home Affairs documents on their smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These digital versions include their identity document, birth certificate, marriage certificate and other Home Affairs documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe use of the Digital Identity system will be optional, and physical products like Smart ID cards will continue to be issued and used in parallel,\u201d Schreiber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although green ID books and Smart ID cards will remain valid, it is the end of an era for physical ID products in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until now, South Africans have had to carry physical forms of identification for financial transactions or for boarding a plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Home Affairs\u2019 new digital ID is set to change that, making it much easier and safer for South Africans to confirm their identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The digital ID will also introduce the ability for users to remotely confirm their identity using biometric verification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New digital ID offers better security and enhanced functionality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Schreiber said the draft regulations proposed creating a world-class Digital Identity system for South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is the ultimate expression of our vision to leverage digital transformation to deliver Home Affairs @ home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis system can greatly enhance our ability to combat identity theft, financial crimes, corruption and illegal immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the improved security, it will deliver efficient services to citizens in their own homes and improve privacy protections and data management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regulations prescribe standards for enrolment, biometric capture and identity assurance for Digital Identity credentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also lay the foundation for interoperability with both the public and private sectors, including enabling the delivery of government services in digital format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will be tightened safeguards for how identity information may be shared with accredited institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Home Affairs is already working closely with a number of government partners, including the Presidency, on the new system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These partnerships will ensure that the foundational system we are building supports the Digital Transformation Roadmap\u2019s goal of digitalising government services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTechnical work is well underway, and these regulations will enable us to complete our digital service delivery by bringing services onto your smart device,\u201d Schreiber said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of Home Affairs strategic plan from 2025 to 2030<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The new Digital ID and the replacement of green ID books form part of the Department of Home Affairs\u2019 strategic plan from 2025 to 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of this plan, the department is working closely with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) to develop a robust digital identity system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis system will use facial recognition as the primary biometric modality and fingerprints as the secondary,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This also signals the end of green ID books. The department has a long-standing commitment in this regard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wants to replace all green bar-coded identity books and eventually discontinue the production of green bar-coded identity documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will happen by issuing smart ID cards to all citizens, which are more secure than green ID books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart ID cards reduce fraud risk and enable e-government and e-commerce services through the digitally enabled smart ID card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final step in this journey is to move to a digital ID, which will be backed up by biometric security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA critical aspect of securing citizenship and civil registration is the move to digital identity. The department aims to issue a digital identity by 2029,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s new digital ID system will give citizens an alternative to physical green ID books and Smart ID cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":646018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18668],"tags":[72152,95595,78048,98770,62962],"class_list":["post-645676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-digital-id","tag-green-id-book","tag-leon-schreiber","tag-minister-of-home-affairs","tag-smart-id-card"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645676"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645727,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645676\/revisions\/645727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}