While addressing the nation last night regarding a myriad issues related to illegal immigration in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the green ID book will no longer be recognised locally.
For now, no official date has been set for when the green ID book won’t be recognised, but Ramaphosa confirmed that he is instructing the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to set one soon.
Ramaphosa noted that this step is being taken as the ID book is highly susceptible to fraud, and that government will push for more smart ID and digital ID solutions, the latter of which has been a particularly important recent project for the DHA.
“We are continuing the crackdown on corruption and inefficiencies in the Department of Home Affairs. We must recognise that illegal immigration is often enabled by corruption. Officials who sell documents, facilitate unlawful entry or abuse public office for personal gain betray the trust of the South African people. We will pursue these cases relentlessly. Those responsible are facing dismissal, criminal prosecution and the full consequences of the law,” explained Ramaphosa during his national address, per SA News.
The president also pointed out that efforts to establish an Intelligent Population Register will be ramped up, with it serving as a central database for the biometric data of every person in the country, which is seen as a key aspect for making a digital ID system come to fruition.
Whether such a system can indeed be implemented successfully, and with consent, given the sheer scale of biometric data that would need to be collected and stored, remains to be seen.
Either way, illegal immigration, corruption by government officials, violence against immigrants, and better securing of our borders, are issues that Ramaphosa is aiming to address, with ending of the green ID book viewed as a necessary step.
“We need to address the factors that drive migration on our continent and elsewhere,” the president noted, adding that steps will be taken in order to gain cooperation of the countries that border South Africa.
“As part of this effort, I will be sending envoys to a number of sister African countries to outline the measures that we are announcing this evening. Cabinet will remain seized with this matter and will regularly review progress in implementing these measures,” he concluded.
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