The Department of Home Affairs is continuing its drive to replace green barcoded identity books with more secure smart ID cards as part of efforts to combat identity fraud and modernise the National Population Register.

Speaking at an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration media briefing on June 14, Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said the green ID book remains one of the country’s most vulnerable identity documents.

He said studies have shown it to be ‘the most defrauded identity document on the African continent’, largely because its physical format can be manipulated.

“There are studies that it is the most defrauded identity document on the African continent and it is easy to understand why.

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“It has got a physical photograph that can be manipulated, exchanged or swapped. If you lose your green ID, or someone steals it, it can easily be altered by inserting another photograph,” Schreiber said.

He added that emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, have made identity document fraud even easier for criminal syndicates and undocumented individuals. According to Schreiber, about 16 million green ID books remain in circulation.

“Our job is to replace those with secure smart IDs,” he said.

The minister also highlighted progress made through partnerships with the banking sector, which allow citizens to apply for smart IDs at participating bank branches.

“We are moving very rapidly to expand this. We want to get to 750 bank branches by the end of this year.

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“We are live now in more than 178 branches throughout the country, and many of them are in rural areas where people previously did not have access to these services,” he said.

Last week, government announced plans to establish an Intelligent Population Register containing biometric data for all people living in South Africa, alongside new regulations aimed at preventing the misuse of Traffic Registration Numbers.

The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to strengthen migration management while upholding constitutional values and human dignity.

As part of this process, government is expected to gradually phase out the green barcoded ID book, which President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously said has been exploited by undocumented immigrants and criminal syndicates to facilitate identity theft.