South Africa to Introduce Digital IDs: Here’s What You Need to Know

Your South African ID could soon live on your smartphone. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has gazetted draft regulations for a national digital identity system, and experts are calling it a generational shift in how South Africans prove who they are.

Gazetted by Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber on 4 May, the Draft Digital Identity Regulations would allow citizens to store and use digital versions of their ID, birth certificate, marriage certificate, and other Home Affairs documents directly on their phones. Identity verification would be done biometrically, meaning your face, not a plastic card, confirms who you are.

Importantly, the system will be optional. Physical Smart ID cards will continue to exist, and no one will be forced to switch. The DHA has been clear that digital IDs are designed to complement, not replace, existing physical documents.

According to a report by Daily Investor, iiDENTIFii co-founder Lance Fanaroff welcomed the regulations, describing the proposed framework as “genuinely world-class.” He highlighted features like liveness detection, cryptographic credentials, and privacy-compliant data sharing as putting South Africa ahead of many developed economies that are still debating the principles, while South Africa is already implementing them.

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Leaving no one behind

Minister Schreiber said the system would help combat identity theft, financial crime, corruption, and illegal immigration, while making government services accessible from home. He added that technical work is already well underway.

Inclusion is also a priority. The regulations explicitly require that no one be unreasonably excluded, acknowledging that a system that only works for those with the latest devices is not a true national solution.

The regulations are currently open for public comment.

See the full report here.

Source: Briefly News