President Cyril Ramaphosa this week confirmed that the Department of Home Affairs will set a date after which the green ID books will no longer be recognised.
In an address to the nation on Sunday, 7 June, where he spoke about measures to crack down on illegal immigration, Ramaphosa said the green ID books are now being progressively discontinued, as it has enabled enabled identity theft by undocumented immigrants and criminal syndicates over the years.
He also said the country was laying the foundations for a Digital ID, through the establishment of an Intelligent Population Register that contains biometric data for every person in the country.
The Department of Home Affairs announced in May that it had expanded access to Smart ID replacement services at commercial banks by 47% within the past two months, and there are plans to roll out the service to at least 750 bank branches by the end of 2026.
Minister Leon Schreiber says by mid-May a total of 167 bank branches across South Africa offered Smart ID replacement services, with more branches going live every week.
The application process has been fully digitalised, allowing citizens to apply for IDs in as little as five minutes without bookings or paperwork.
“Gone are the days of spending a whole day in a queue. At these 167 bank branches, it now takes as little as five minutes to apply for an ID. No prior bookings are required. No paperwork is needed. And there is no official discretion, completely sealing the system off from manipulation and fraud by relying on the power of biometric technology.”
According to the Minister, more than 100,000 Smart ID applications had already been processed through the new system by mid-May for people replacing lost cards or switching from the Green ID book.
He said the project is key to migrating the estimated 16 million South Africans still using Green ID books to Smart IDs.
Here are all the bank branches in the Western Cape where Smart ID services are available, as of 26 May 2026:
CAPITEC
- Canal Walk
- Cape Town Adderley
- Cape Town V&A Waterfront
- Citrusdal
- Hermanus Whale Coast Mall
- Mitchells Plain Watergate
- Paarl Main Road
- Piketberg
- Stellenbosch Eikestad
- Swellendam
- Table View Table Bay Mall
- Tyger Valley Centre
- Vredenburg Weskus Mall
- Worcester Mountain Mill Centre
STANDARD BANK
- Canal Walk
- CapeGate Shopping Centre
- Helderberg
- Khayelitsha
- Paarl
- Parow Centre
- Vredenburg
FNB
- Greenpoint
NEDBANK
- St George’s Mall, Cape Town
ABSA
- Stellenbosch
Customers of each individual bank are advised to contact the nearest available branch to enquire about what they need to bring, and whether a booking is required.
