For close to 15 million South Africans, the green barcoded identity book remains the document they reach for when they need to prove who they are, collect a social grant or access government services. That familiar paper booklet, with its laminated photograph, has been part of daily life for decades. Now it is being phased out by 2028, and the change will touch every one of those households.
The Department of Home Affairs is retiring the green ID book as part of a shift away from paper-based processes towards digital and biometric platforms. People who still hold the booklet are encouraged to replace it with the Smart ID card, which offers stronger protection for both the citizen and the National Population Register.
For older South Africans especially, the little green book carries a complicated weight. It is a treasured marker of history and heritage, the document proudly brandished by the millions who stood in line to vote in the country’s first democratic election in 1994. Yet for many it is also a reminder of a painful past. The apartheid government used the identity document as an instrument to enforce discriminatory laws and to control the movement of black people.
That symbol of a fractured past went on to become a beacon of the new democratic dispensation. The post-1994 government recognised that a common identity document, issued to all South Africans regardless of race, was an important part of building a non-racial and inclusive society. It became a symbol of belonging and gave practical expression to ideals contained in the Freedom Charter, adopted in 1955, particularly equal rights and the right to vote. In 1994, the document enabled millions to exercise a democratic right that had been denied to the majority for generations.
The transition now under way is not simply about swapping one card for another. It forms part of a broader effort to modernise the digital ID system and strengthen the integrity of the population register. It also addresses long-standing service challenges that citizens know all too well, including long queues and limited service points at Home Affairs offices.
Help is coming from an unusual quarter. The department’s partnership with major South African banks, including Capitec, Standard Bank, FNB, Absa and Nedbank, shows how collaboration between government and the private sector can improve public service delivery. Citizens can now apply for or replace Smart ID cards at participating bank branches, which reduces administrative barriers, shortens application times and expands access beyond traditional Home Affairs offices. By August 2026, more than 574,371 Smart ID applications had been processed through participating bank branches, a figure that illustrates how digital innovation can make government services more accessible, efficient and responsive to people’s needs.
The case for the change is practical as much as symbolic. The green ID book belongs to an analogue era and, like many paper-based systems, is vulnerable to tampering, theft and fraud. Those weaknesses carry serious consequences in a modern society where identity is increasingly central to accessing essential services and exercising one’s rights. The Smart ID card, by contrast, uses a secure digital chip and biometric information to guard against identity theft and fraud, making verification more secure and reliable while helping government maintain a more accurate and trustworthy register.
The replacement is not a forgetting of history. As the South African Government News Agency noted in its reflection on the change, the green ID book will always be part of the country’s heritage, and its place in history is assured (https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/end-green-id-book-not-end-its-history). South Africa is simply moving into a new digital era and making identity safer for everyone who carries it.
Meanwhile, with upcoming elections on the horizon, citizens who have applied for Smart ID cards are encouraged to collect them as soon as they are ready. Having the necessary identity document in hand helps eligible voters prepare for election day and avoids last-minute challenges. Collecting an ID is, in the end, a personal step with a public meaning: it ensures that each South African can exercise the right to vote and take part in shaping the country’s democratic future, just as millions did with the green book in their hands in 1994.