If South Africa’s Sim registration story played out the way we imagine it should, this would be the moment we cut to sunshine, trust and seamless onboarding.

But that’s not our reality.

Rica – once seen as a global pioneer – is now straining under pressures it wasn’t built for. The past year has made it clear that the system no longer delivers the protection it once promised.

Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said it plainly: “People have learnt to game the system.”

Criminals exploit loopholes, fake registrations move at scale and Sim-swap fraud keeps rising because the identity layer underneath is outdated.

Meanwhile, the broader digital identity ecosystem is racing ahead. New rails, new credentials and new ways to bind people to services are emerging – but the very system meant to protect more than 100 million active Sims hasn’t kept up.

Operators are left carrying more than their share of the load: fraud losses, manual verification costs, queues and frustrated customers walking away when Rica fails. This isn’t the fantasy we hoped for. It’s a system overdue for reinvention.

Why a modern Rica is now possible

It may sound ambitious, but most of what’s needed to modernise Rica already exists. South Africa’s digital identity foundations have accelerated rapidly:

Verifiable credentials are moving into mainstream adoption through the MyMzansi road map;
The Reserve Bank is modernising payments and introducing a universal digital financial ID; and
Home affairs is rolling out the foundation of a biometric digital ID system over the next 12 months.

This isn’t a distant aspiration – it’s the emerging infrastructure of a modern identity ecosystem.

In this context, reimagining Rica doesn’t require sweeping legislative reform or national hardware roll-outs. What it needs is one focused evolution: a digital, reusable, fraud-resistant Rica credential – biometrically verified against home affairs, cryptographically secured and reusable across networks and channels – that binds a Sim to a verified individual once and can be trusted everywhere it’s used.

The good news is this model already exists. It’s the space Contactable has been building in – a digital Rica identity layer designed to align with Reserve Bank, MyMzansi and home affairs. We’re preparing to launch it with multiple major operator partners, and the advantage it unlocks for early adopters is substantial.

Modernising Rica isn’t just national impact, it’s good business

A modern Rica also delivers real commercial value:

Lower operating costs: Digital, automated checks mean fewer store visits, less manual verification, fewer failed attempts and reduced fraud clean-up. And as Telkom’s Lunga Siyo has warned, ever-rising real-time verification fees make the current model increasingly expensive. A reusable digital Rica credential means you don’t pay for a “full” verification every time – you verify once, then reuse a trusted identity, driving structural cost optimisation over time.
Faster activations equals higher conversion: Customers don’t want queues or forms. They want onboarding done in minutes. Instant digital Rica becomes a competitive edge and directly boosts acquisition.
Fraud reduction equals margin protection: Fraud is expensive – chargebacks, Sim-swap recovery, false claims and reputational risk. A verifiable credential sharply reduces exposure.
Reusable identity equals long-term advantage: When the identity is already trusted, onboarding becomes almost instant. One digital Rica can support multiple product lines, increasing lifetime value.
Regulatory alignment without friction: The Reserve Bank, MyMzansi and home affairs are all moving towards digital, verifiable identity. A modern Rica fits cleanly into their future plans. Operators that move early aren’t just compliant – they’re leading.

The first operators to reform Rica won’t just win customers. They’ll change the country.

Telecommunications operators already connect the nation. They carry our calls, our commerce, our classrooms and our emergencies. But what comes next isn’t about connectivity. It’s about trust – and who gets to build it.

The telcos that modernise Rica will do more than streamline onboarding. They’ll cut the legs out from under Sim-enabled crime, give law enforcement identity data that actually holds up and lower the country’s exposure to fraud at a structural level.

And for customers? One registration. One verified identity. Reusable across networks, across products, across years.

Here’s what makes this moment rare: the right thing to do and the smart thing to do are the same thing. National impact and commercial advantage aren’t competing – they’re compounding.

It might sound like a fairytale. In reality, it’s a first-mover advantage waiting to be claimed.

About Contactable
Contactable is Africa’s leading Integrated Identity Platform, helping enterprises turn trust into a growth advantage. Through a single integration, we unify identity, compliance and workflow across the customer journey — reducing complexity, strengthening assurance and enabling seamless digital experiences at scale. Connect on LinkedIn or Facebook.

The author, Shaun Strydom, is CEO of Contactable, and this article was previously featured on the Contactable website
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