End of the line for the green ID book in South Africa - President Cyril Ramaphosa — President Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed South Africa’s digital identity overhaul at the centre of government’s crackdown on illegal migration, committing to set a date after which the green barcoded ID book will no longer be recognised.

In an address from the Union Buildings on Sunday evening, Ramaphosa said the government was establishing an “intelligent population register” containing biometric data for every person in the country, which would “lay the foundation for a digital ID”.

At the same time, the department of home affairs would “progressively discontinue” the green ID book, which Ramaphosa said had “enabled identity theft by undocumented immigrants and criminal syndicates”. The department would set a date after which the document would no longer be recognised, he said, although he did not say when.

Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber had already set a 2029 phase-out target; the new element is a commitment to set a hard date after which the book will not be recognised, and the tying of that to immigration enforcement. Draft regulations for the new digital identity system were open for public comment until 6 June – the day before the address.

The green ID book, introduced in 1980, has become a soft target: impersonation fraud involving the book has surged about 400% year on year, according to identity verification firm VerifyNow, with criminals increasingly using AI to exploit weaknesses in the legacy system. Yet an estimated 16 million South Africans still rely on the green ID book despite the ongoing roll-out of smart ID cards.

Digital ID

Home affairs has leaned on the banking sector to speed that transition, expanding smart ID replacement services to 167 bank branches within eight weeks under a new digital partnership model. More than 127 000 people have used the digital smart ID service, with some applications completed in as little as five minutes.

Ramaphosa also announced a crackdown on the Traffic Registration Number (TRN), which foreign nationals require to register or buy vehicles but which he said was being used as a form of identification. The department of transport would issue new regulations to align the TRN with the country’s identification laws within three months.

The president linked the reforms to an anti-corruption drive within home affairs, warning that officials who sell documents or facilitate unlawful entry face dismissal and criminal prosecution.

On border control, Ramaphosa said the government would keep investing in “modern technology, infrastructure and personnel”, and said the Border Management Authority had intercepted more than 450 000 people attempting to enter the country illegally in the past year.