The green ID book will no longer be recognised as a valid identity document from 31 March 2028. First-time applicants and people over 60 years will continue to be exempt from the Smart ID application fee.
Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs, announced this final deadline for the green ID on Thursday, while the department will already cease manufacturing the document on 31 March 2027. Schreiber revealed that 14.7 million South Africans still use the green book.
During the department's announcement of its Quantum Leap vision at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, the minister said the machines that manufacture the green ID books will be permanently switched off and dismantled on 31 March 2027. The remaining users of green ID books will then have a further 12 months to switch to a Smart ID card.
Schreiber said the department will also enable the remaining group of naturalised citizens and permanent residents, as well as South African citizens abroad, to obtain Smart ID cards before 31 March 2027. According to Schreiber, the green ID book is particularly vulnerable to identity fraud because of its paper format and hand-attached photograph. He described its continued use as incompatible with a modern society.
Home Affairs has expanded services from participating banks for the switch to Smart ID cards. The department said earlier this year that about 16 million South Africans still used the green ID book; the latest figure Schreiber cited on Thursday is 14.7 million.
Sources: SA Government, Business Tech, SABC News
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
