MILLIONS of South Africans will be affected by the soon to be announced deadline where green ID books will become invalid as the move towards smart Digital IDs gains traction.

President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement of the looming cut-off date while addressing the nation on the rising tensions over illegal immigration on Sunday (June 7).

Ramaphosa said the migration from the green ID book to the Smart Card ID is laying the foundation for Digital IDs as SA establishes an Intelligent Population Register that contains biometric data for every person in the country.  

He said while plans for this are afoot, the Department of Home Affairs “will progressively discontinue the green ID books, which have enabled identity theft by undocumented immigrants and criminal syndicates”.

Also Read: Home Affairs issues record 4 million Smart ID cards in 2025

Not yet giving a date of when this will commence, Ramaphosa said, “The Department of Home Affairs will set a date after which the green ID books will not be recognised.

“We will continue strengthening our immigration system by stamping out corruption and deploying cutting-edge technology, cracking down on corruption and inefficiencies in the Department of Home Affairs.”

To speed up the migration from green books to Smart Card IDs and make the process more accessible, the department recently rolled out its new Digital Partnership Model to 100 bank branches in addition to the 110 branches already live across SA.

In March the department announced that First National Bank (FNB) has officially become the third bank to join the rollout of this ground-breaking project at their branches.

“Just three weeks after the first branch was launched, 77 branches of Capitec Bank, 30 branches of Standard Bank, and the first three branches of First National Bank are now live throughout the country, offering Smart ID replacement services in communities that never had access before.”

To find your nearest bank branch offering Smart ID services, visit: www.dha.gov.za/banks.

For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.

Click to subscribe to our newsletter – here