More than 14 million South Africans have until the end of March 2028 to apply for their smart IDs.

Following more than two years of caution, Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber has formally announced that production of traditional green barcoded IDs will cease on March 31 next year, affording South African citizens a calendar year to apply for the card version.

According to Schreiber, the traditional ID books put holders at risk of fraud and identity theft.

“Many would-be criminals, including home affairs officials, have been found to engage in unlawful activities relating to the manipulation of identity documents and identity theft, often resulting in illegal credit applications, loans and fraud.

“To address this problem, the department have set in motion phasing out of these documents, replacing it with the card, which contains advanced features.”

Security features integrated into the Smart ID format include:

• Made from durable quality polycarbonate materials to prevent tampering.
• Physical security features on the card body such as holograms, laser engraving and personal details provide visual verification of the card and easily identify tampering.
• Logical security features include fingerprint biometrics and biographic data embedded on a 80 kilobyte card chip.
• Personalisation with laser engraving of demographic details and photographs makes the new card difficult to forge or tamper with, thus cutting down on the fraudulent use of fake or stolen IDs.

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This year, the department successfully issued four million Smart IDs compared to last year’s 1.3 million.

“Studies indicate the most defrauded identity document on the African continent is the green barcoded document. The physical photograph is easy to manipulated, exchanged or swapped,” Schreiber said.

In an effort to ease the transition, he said partnerships with the banking sector will enable citizens to walk into a branch and apply to switch to the Smart ID.

“We are moving rapidly to expand this offering. We want to get 750 bank branches on board by the end of this year, an increase from the current 178 branches nationwide.”

How to apply

• Applications for a Smart ID are R140 at your nearest Department of Home Affairs and participating banks.
• First time applicants and those over the age of 60 are exempt of all fees.
• Applications can only be processed by banks where you are an existing client.
• Applicants are not restricted to submit an application in the city of residence.
• Only clients with an appointment will be serviced.
• Bookings can be made at www.dha.gov.za or using your banking app.

The Boksburg Department of Home Affairs offices are located at 324 Commissioner Street and are open from 08:00 to 15:30. The Benoni Department of Home Affairs offices are located at 52 Woburn Avenue and are open from 08:00 to 15:30.