Home Affairs to Phase Out Green ID Books, South Africans Want Corrupt Officials Rooted Out First

• The Department of Home Affairs wants to phase out the green barcoded ID books slowly
• Home Affairs believe that identity fraud will end once the smart card IDs are phased in
• South Africans want the department to root out corruption first before ending the gree IDs

Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has spent a decade reporting on the South African political landscape, crime and social issues.

The era of the green barcoded ID books is slowly coming to an end.

The Department of Home Affairs have officially started the process of phasing it out, but the decision has left South Africans confused.

Home Affairs want to end ID fraud

The department are hoping to eliminate widespread identity fraud and migrate everyone to the new smartcard IDs.

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Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Njabulo Nzuza explained that the issue of duplicated IDs stemmed from the green barcoded ones, something that going digital would address.

The initiative kicked off this past weekend, with Home Affairs opting to focus on first-time applicants and matriculants in the first phase.

South Africans aren’t happy

With the majority of the country still using the green barcoded ID, social media was abuzz with reactions to the news.

Many felt the time and resources could be better spent on rooting out corruption instead.

@TebogoSelowa8 was very sceptical:

“You change it, and then boom; you’re married, or you’re sharing an ID with someone else because they sold your identity.”

@theeNosh asked who would pay:

“Are they going to pay for the replacement? Because I'm not changing mine due to the rot in that department.”

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Redhotdoll Nene Nene said:

“They must phase out corruption first. They must leave us alone and focus on Chidimma.”

Sthabiso Mthethwa added:

“Ay, those people must phase out illegal immigrants and their own corruption first.”

Realise Infinity Makhubela asked:

“So, are they cancelling our green ID books or what?”

Sho-Kombi Mat said:

“I won't ever change mine. They must fire their corrupt officials and leave us alone.”

Vii Sivuyile echoed those sentiments:

“Leave our green IDs alone and focus on your corrupt officials.”

Rampant corruption exposed at Home Affairs

Home Affairs officials have been accused of being treasonous for selling documentation to foreign nationals.

Briefly News previously reported how foreign nationals were paying for birth certificates or passports.

A birth certificate was sold for as much as R1 000, while foreign nationals coughed up as much as R45 000 for a passport.

Source: Briefly News