Cape Town – Naturalised South Africans and permanent residents are now eligible to apply for Smart ID cards, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber announced on Sunday.
The development comes after years of IT failures that prevented over 1.4 million people from accessing the more secure identification cards and the eHomeAffairs booking platform.
South Africans were previously limited to using green bar-coded ID books, which the government has sought to phase out due to fraud risks.
Schreiber said the department’s digital transformation has ended this exclusion, allowing eligible applicants to obtain Smart IDs without undergoing the previously required manual approval process.
🚨 Big news: for the first time ever, over 1.4 million naturalised citizens and lawful permanent residents are now eligible to obtain Smart IDs and use eHomeAffairs! We’re starting with applicants from visa exempt countries and then expanding to all others.
This a major… pic.twitter.com/6J55KklK5J
— Leon Schreiber (@Leon_Schreib) May 11, 2025
“This a major milestone on the digital transformation journey of #TeamHomeAffairs, which continues to deliver and accelerate. It is a victory for social inclusion, as these citizens and lawful residents were previously excluded from the Smart ID and restricted to the vulnerable green ID book.
“And it is a victory for national security, as it makes our country less reliant on the insecure green ID book,” the minister said.
In anticipation of high application volumes, the Department of Home Affairs will extend operating hours on weekends
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
