Do you know what your ID number says about you?
We unpack the information hidden within the string of numbers and their meaning.
Having an ID document is one of the most important pieces of identification you will ever have, but did you know it tells anyone looking a lot about you?
Most folks know the first six digits are their date of birth, but beyond that things make less sense.
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Issued by the Department of Home Affairs to all eligible people when they turn 16, the number assigned to you reveals data on your gender and even citizenship.
Let us look at an example ID number which is not allocated to anyone:
If a person were born on February 20, 1992, the start of the ID number would be in the following:
• 92 for the year, 1992,
• 02 for the month, February, and
• 20 for the day.
920220
The next four numbers are used to show your gender:
• Females make use of the numbers from 0000 to 4999.
• Men then take over and are shown with the numbers 5000 to 9999.
In this example, let’s say our person is female and she was assigned the numbers: 4720.
920220 + 4720
The next number signifies citizenship. If a South African citizen, it will be a 0, while a permanent resident will get a 1.
Let’s say our female is a South African citizen, so she gets a 0 next.
920220 + 4720 + 0
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In the 1980s the government decided to stop using a number to identify a person by race. If you received your ID number before this practice was stopped, here is what the 12th number represents:
• 0 – White
• 1 – Cape Coloured
• 2 – Malay
• 3 – Griqua
• 4 – Chinese
• 5 – Indian
• 6 – Other Asian
• 7 – Other Coloured
If you have an 8 or a 9, your ID number was issued after this practice was ended. These days the 12th number is either an 8 or a 9 and has no significance.
920220 + 4720 + 0 + 8
The final number is a ‘checksum’ which is used to check the line of numbers in validation tools that use the Luhn Algorithm. This has no identifying or other meaning about you.
The now complete ID number is as follows:
920220 4720 082
And that is all there is to the mystery of the seemingly random sequence of numbers.
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