Good news for people who have green ID books

Unless government makes dramatic changes, it will be at least five years before the old green ID book could be declared invalid, according to statistics revealed by Department of Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber.

Speaking to News24, Schreiber said the government can only invalidate the insecure green ID books when all South Africans have access to smart ID cards, adding that there are still around 18 million South Africans it must reach.

“The green ID book is insecure and a risk to South Africa. We need to get rid of it. We can only do away with it if everyone has access to the alternative smart ID,” he said.

“Our aim was 2.5 million people this year, but we are on track for 3.6 million.”

Even at a rate of 3.6 million smart IDs per year, it will take approximately five years for the smart ID card to reach all South Africans, assuming the production rate doesn’t slow.

Schreiber explained that the solution lies in massively expanding Home Affairs’ collaboration with South African banks.

The minister reiterated that he wants to expand the existing network from 30 branches to a thousand.

“In the past, Home Affairs had its own computer, fingerprint scanner, camera, and an official sitting in a corner of the bank. That makes no sense. We must integrate with the bank’s technology,” said Schreiber.

The Department of Home Affairs will need to hasten its smart ID production over the coming years to meet Schreiber’s goal of expanding access to all South Africans before the 2029 national and provincial elections.

The minister announced the goal while speaking at the Independent Electoral Commission’s e-Voting Conference on 10 March 2025.

“We are moving determinedly to expand access to smart IDs to a scale never seen before,” he said.

He added that the time has come to expand Home Affairs services to more locations across the country to ensure all South Africans can get their smart ID card closer to home.

“This will enable us to eventually discontinue the green barcoded ID book, which is far more prone to fraud than the smart ID,” said Schreiber.

He emphasised that implementing a digital ID system would follow his department’s smart ID expansion to all South Africans, adding that he wants a fully-fledged digital ID system by the next national and provincial elections in 2029.

In addition to still needing to produce millions of smart IDs, Home Affairs’ smart ID application systems currently do not accommodate permanent residents and naturalised citizens.

Schreiber previously said this was a problem in the IT systems that the State IT Agency provides to Home Affairs, but assured it was being addressed.

Way behind schedule

South Africa’s move away from the green ID book to the more secure smart ID card is years behind schedule.

Former Home Affairs minister Naledi Pandor launched the country’s smart ID project in 2013. The project aims to phase out the existing ID book and declare it invalid by 2021.

In a notice published in the Government Gazette in June 2013, the former minister said she would set a date for phasing out the old documents by 2016.

Her original notice also specified that the department would take a phased approach in rolling out smart ID cards, beginning with the elderly and first-time applicants.

By March 2015, less than two million smart ID cards had been issued and the system was only opened to the broader public in 2016.

Despite being woefully behind schedule, former Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni described this as a success.

“We are really moving, considering this process only started in 2013,” said Apleni.

At the time of the smart ID project’s launch, there were around 38 million green ID books in circulation and Home Affairs said these would need to be replaced with smart IDs before the older document could be invalidated.

This would indicate that, to meet the deadline of declaring green IDs invalid by 2013, the department would’ve had to produce 4.75 million cards per year over eight years — a production rate it has yet to achieve.

The Department of Home Affairs reported producing 2,613,248 smart ID cards in 2022/23, followed by 2,822,236 in 2023/24.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza, during his 2024 Budget Speech, revealed that there were roughly 26 million smart ID card holders.

As per Minister Schreiber’s latest stats, the department must issue a further 18 million smart ID cards and it is on track to produce 3.6 million cards in 2024/25.

This would indicate that the department is now targeting at least 44 million smart ID holders before declaring the green ID book invalid.

The difference between the original target of 38 million holders and the new target could account for South Africans who have received green ID books since the smart ID card was first launched.