According to the Department of Home Affairs’ (DHA’s) Strategic Plan 2030, here’s how long the current South African ID book will last. Since Minister Dr. Leon Schreiber took over office in May 2024, the department has started to set some big goals for itself.
Central to these goals is to bid the current ‘green mamba’ South African ID book farewell in favour of safer digital systems. As such, Strategic Plan 2030 has set a target of discontinuing the issuance of the old document by 2030. However, residents should note the wording here. ‘Target’ and ‘discontinuing,’ so there’s no need to panic about the validity of your green ID booklet just yet.
SOUTH AFRICAN ID BOOK PHASED OUT
Beyond discontinuance of the South African ID book, the DHA’s Strategic Plan 2030 lays out several other medium-term goals:
- The department stated its goal of having universal enrolment in the country’s smart digital ID system.
- To discontinue the issuance of green South African ID books in the interim.
- Old barcoded IDs are still being issued at non-modernised DHA offices and it will ramp up the issuance of Smart IDs in all branches.
- The department also wants to rapidly expand the places where eligible persons can get Smart IDs. These include rolling out services to more banks …
1 000 BANKS BY 2030
The Strategic Plan set by the DHA wants to put smart services in 1 000 bank branches over the next five years. Moreover, the goal is also to make the service accessible through smart banking apps. That way DHA services can be done in the comfort of one’s own home, a bit like tax-filing now occurs online through SARS. The Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) confirms it is still in talks with Home Affairs over service-level agreements needed to make this expansion a reality.
HAVE YOU UPGRADED TO A SMART ID YET?
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