02/11/2026
The Department of Home Affairs has announced plans to phase out South Africa’s green bar-coded ID books.
According to the announcement:
👉𝟑𝟏 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟕: 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐃 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩.
👉 𝟑𝟏 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟖: 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐃 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
If you still use your green ID book, now is a good time to start planning for the change. Don't leave your Smart ID Card application until the last minute.
Smart ID services are available through Home Affairs and participating bank branches. You can also visit the My Home Affairs Online platform to check which services are available to you.
At GBG Group, we believe keeping up with important changes is part of looking after your personal and financial affairs.
Please note: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝟏 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬.