Home Affairs launches major push to replace remaining 18 million green ID books

702's Bongani Bingwa speaks to Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber.

Listen below:

Do you still have a green ID book?

The Department of Home Affairs wants to replace all the old books with smart ID cards and is making plans to make it easier to apply for one.

Partnering with banks, the department says it will ramp up its reach to an additional 100 locations by March 2026 and 1 000 locations by March 2029. 

Currently 18 million South Africans are still using the green ID books.

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"We've set ourselves a target of 100 branches by the end of this coming financial year and we want to get to 1 000 branches over the medium term."

- Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs 

"It's really going to mitigate the queues and the frustration that people feel."

- Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs 

The plans form part of Schreiber's ambitious goal to digitise the Department of Home Affairs over the next five years.

"It's a basic decentralisation approach, where you give people more options."
- Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs

And those options could eventually include South Africans own smartphones, says Schreiber.

"That takes people out of the queue at Home Affairs, it lessens the load on our system."

- Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs 

Schreiber warns that those with the green ID book are more likely to be victims of crimes like identity theft and fraud.

"If you look at that document, it's got a physical photo, what happens if someone picks up your ID and changes the photo and suddenly they assume your identity?"

- Dr Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs 

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