SOUTH AFRICA UNVEILS FIRST DIGITAL ID – HERE’S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

Thu 01 October 2026:

The Department of Home Affairs introduced South Africa‘s first operational digital identity document during an event held in Johannesburg on Thursday, 1 October 2026.

Government plans to use digital IDs to give South Africans access to services from multiple departments through a single online platform on their smartphones.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the digital IDs represented a “quantum leap” for the department’s plans to digitise and improve service delivery in the country.

On Thursday, Schreiber, alongside the department, demoed the first live digital ID in South Africa, providing a full picture of how the system will function and how it is linked to the MyMzansi platform.

“What you are about to see is not only a real working digital identity credential that has been formally issued through the population register and securely bound to the chip on the smartphone I will soon use,” Schreiber said. “What you are about to see is my own real digital identity credential.”

On screens either side of the stage, Schreiber opened the MyMzansi digital ID app and confirmed his identity with his thumbprint. The photograph displayed was his own image on the population register, not a model photo, he said.

Schreiber also had more details about digital IDs, looking to address the largest concerns about the technology, he said, which were privacy of user data and state surveillance.

“Surveillance is the state watching the citizen. What we are building is the opposite: the citizen watching the state and other users of their data,” he said.

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Schreiber previously said that “The department’s vision to bring secure government services directly to citizens through digital platforms.”

He said digital IDs will enable South Africans to access government services wherever they are and whenever they need them.

Access to this digital ID information will be locked behind a biometric key held by the digital ID’s owner. They will also be linked to specific devices through a “device binding” process.

WATCH | Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber says the department is finalising its Digital ID system, assuring the public that personal data will be secure and protected. pic.twitter.com/axBmbUbUlt

— SABC News (@SABCNews) October 1, 2026

These biometric identification methods will include a facial biometric template scan and a cryptographic signature. These features are designed to protect a person’s account and digital ID from fraud.

South Africa’s digital IDs, which are anticipated to be fully launched after 2030, will be accessible through the MyMzansi Digital ID smartphone application.

Images of the live digital ID app demonstration