Brief
South Africa sets March 2028 deadline to end green ID book
The green ID booklet will cease to be valid on 31 March 2028, with production ending a year earlier.
By Felo News Desk · Published
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs announced that the paper green ID book will no longer be a valid form of identification after 31 March 2028, with production of the booklet ending on 31 March 2027, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said in a speech on 1 October 2026.
Schreiber said the 14.7 million citizens and permanent residents who currently rely solely on the green ID will have a twelve‑month window to obtain a smart ID card. The rollout will be extended to naturalised citizens, permanent residents and South Africans living abroad, groups previously excluded. First‑time applicants and people over 60 will continue to pay no application fee.
The minister linked the phase‑out to fraud concerns, describing the paper booklet as one of the most counterfeited documents on the continent. He noted that the deadline fulfills President Cyril Ramaphosa’s June commitment, replacing an earlier 2029 target.
Since taking office in 2024, Schreiber has pushed a digital overhaul, including moving smart‑ID services into bank branches. He said 515 branches now offer walk‑in smart‑ID replacements, with more than 822 000 people using the service since its March launch. By the end of 2026, over a thousand service points will be available, up from 214 before the GNU was formed. Capitec Bank reported processing over 594 000 smart‑ID applications at 248 of its branches.
Passport and first‑time smart‑ID applications will be added at bank branches soon, and a courier delivery option will be introduced. The number of people holding only a green ID has fallen from 16 million to 14.7 million, which Schreiber attributed to the bank partnership. A national communications campaign will precede the deadline.
Key facts
- The green ID book will cease to be valid on 31 March 2028. (techcentral.co.za)
- Production of the green ID book will end on 31 March 2027. (techcentral.co.za)
- 14.7 million people hold only a green ID book. (techcentral.co.za)
- 515 bank branches now offer walk‑in smart ID replacements. (techcentral.co.za)
- Capitec processed over 594 000 smart ID applications since March. (techcentral.co.za)
Sources
- [1] techcentral.co.za — originally reported as “Home affairs pulls the plug on the green ID book”
