Green ID book relief for South Africa – with Smart ID changes coming

Embracing Digital Transformation: Modernizing Identification for a More Efficient Future

South Africans who were alarmed by former Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s comments in June that their green ID books would soon become invalid can breathe easy: the pace at which the department is rolling out the newer Smart IDs means the D-day for the green booklet is likely still a long way away.

Meanwhile, the new administration is bringing some new ideas—including a “refresh” of the smart ID—while sticking to the exact old timelines proposed by the previous one.

At the end June, Motsoaledi told ENCA that the Department of Home Affairs was working with the CSIR to update DHA systems in a bid to increase the rollout of Smart IDs so the country could “do away with the green ID book”.

He said the department would make an announcement “very soon” about making the older green ID book invalid. The department said it wanted to phase out the green IDs within two to three years.

However, the department previously made it clear that the green ID book would only be declared invalid once all its centres had smart enrollment facilities for faster ID card applications.

This has not yet been achieved, and the rollout of the Smart IDs has been slow: too slow to keep up with the population growth.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) introduced smart ID cards in July 2013 with the intention of phasing out the green ID booklets from 2018 to 2022.

However,  only 21 million Smart IDs had been issued by the end of 2023.

This means that  42 million people in South Africa would still need to be processed. This would require around 14 million Smart IDs to be issued each year over three years to meet the lofty target (not factoring in various variables like migration, births, deaths, etc).

According to the DHA, it issued 2.6 million smart ID cards against a target of 2.2 million in the 2022/23 financial year.

The new administration delivered the latest budget vote for the department in July. It said it was aiming for 2.5 million smart ID cards to be issued during the 2024/25 financial year.

At this production rate, the DHA will struggle to justify a deadline for invalidating South Africa’s green ID books.

The DHA’s plans to phase out the greed ID book are also compounded by the fact that new books are being issued each year, including millions issued for learners aged 16 heading into the senior phase, and those issued to naturalized citizens or people with permanent residency who are not eligible for Smart IDs.

New home affairs minister Leon Schreiber said earlier in July that a system for the latter is being phased in. However, he could not give a timeline.

“This is being phased in, with 280 cards already issued and another 697 in progress. Once the system has been adjusted to verify compliant applications, all naturalized citizens will be able to visit any Home Affairs office equipped with live-capture facilities to apply for their smart ID cards,” he said.

However, the minister has thrown in another possible complication, stating that, during the current administration, both the passport and smart ID card will be refreshed and updated.

This will be done “to enhance the security features of these documents, with the aim of building trust by more countries and organisations worldwide”, he said. This could complicate and potentially further delay the rollout.

New Home Affairs minister, Leon Schreiber

Other measures

The department has tried to speed up application and delivery of Smart IDs in the country by rolling out services to more branches, launching mobile service units, and opening satellite offices in high-traffic areas, such as major shopping malls and bank branches.

The partnership with the banks for these services has been hit with several delays, currently only operating at 30 or so branches as part of an extended “pilot” programme. On launch, as many as 40 new bank branches could be added to this, making services more widely available.

However, the Banking Association of South Africa confirmed to BusinessTech in May 2024 that the deadline of March 2024 was once again extended to September 2024 for the department and the banks to sign on.

The system has been in operation for almost nine years, with “periodical upgrades” being made. Over 3.5 million South Africans have used the bank branch system for the Smart IDs and passports, the department said.