DIGITAL BORDERS, DIGITAL IDENTITY:
Why the biometric registration of every person in South Africa has become the next major front in immigration reform
By Gittins Attorneys · 8 min read · 16 July 2026
In this article, we set out how South Africa's immigration framework is being redrawn at the level of first principles, moving from fixed visa categories and official discretion towards a merit- based, points-driven system under the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection. Since then, the pace of change has, if anything, quickened. What has become clear is that much of this reform will be delivered not only through new legislation, but through new technology.
This article looks at that technological dimension: the government's plan to build a single, biometric register of every person in the country, to replace the paper-based travel visa with a digital equivalent, and to retire the green ID book that has served South Africans for decades. These are not distant proposals. The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is already live and expanding in phases, and the legal and administrative groundwork for the population register is being laid now - clients dealing with Home Affairs in the months ahead will start to feel their effects directly.
FROM POLICY TO IMPLEMENTATION
On 3 June 2026, Cabinet adopted a comprehensive approach for Migration Management, endorsed by the President's Coordinating Council and subsequently discussed with organised labour, business, traditional leaders and other stakeholders. President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined the approach in a televised address to the nation on 7 June 2026 and again in response to questions in the National Council of Provinces on 25 June 2026.
The approach rests on five pillars:
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Enforcement – stronger enforcement of immigration and labour laws, including increased inspections of employers and the phased recruitment of 10 000 labour inspectors;
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Border and asylum management – redevelopment of the country's six busiest ports of entry and the relocation of refugee reception centres closer to border posts;
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Technology – the modernisation and digitisation of the immigration system, discussed in detail below;
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Legal and policy reform – giving effect to the Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection, approved by Cabinet on 3 April 2026, through legislative amendments still to be tabled in Parliament, together with a National Labour Migration Policy and an Employment Services Amendment Bill introducing quotas for the employment of foreign nationals; and
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Regional cooperation – engagement through SADC, the African Union and bilateral relationships to address the regional drivers of migration.
It is the third pillar, the digitisation of identity and travel documentation, that is developing the fastest and that touches the widest range of people. We deal with its two central elements in turn.
THE INTELLIGENT POPULATION REGISTER
At the centre of the government's plan is the Intelligent Population Register (IPR), which will replace the current National Population Register. Where the existing register simply records basic details such as names, births and deaths, the IPR is intended to use artificial intelligence, machine learning, biometrics and real-time data integration to verify identity and support service delivery across government. Critically, it will not be limited to South African citizens; the President has said it will contain biometric data for every person in the country, laying the foundation for a national Digital ID.
Two related, more immediate changes accompany this:
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The green ID book – the green, barcoded identity book is to be progressively phased out. The Department of Home Affairs will set a date after which it will no longer be recognised, on the basis that it has been vulnerable to identity theft and misuse by undocumented migrants and criminal syndicates.
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The Traffic Registration Number – the Traffic Registration Number, issued to foreign nationals so that they may register or purchase vehicles, has reportedly been used as a substitute form of identification. The Department of Transport is expected to issue new regulations within three months of the 7 June 2026 address to align vehicle registration with South Africa's identification laws.
Birth and death registration is also intended to move to mandatory digital channels, for citizens and
foreign residents alike, with newborns' biometric data linked to that of their parents.
THE ELECTRONIC TRAVEL AUTHORISATION
The second major plank is the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), an online entry permit intended to replace the paper-based visa and, in time, sit alongside or replace the current eVisa system for at least some categories of traveller. An applicant applies online, submits biometric data, and receives an outcome electronically, with the authorisation linked to their passport and checked automatically on arrival.
The ETA was first unveiled by the Minister of Home Affairs in September 2025 and has been rolled out in phases, beginning with a pilot for G20 delegates in October 2025. Travellers who are ordinarily visa-exempt are not required to apply for an ETA, though they may be able to use it voluntarily for faster, biometric-based processing. In his June 2026 remarks, the President indicated that the system is being extended to all airports and major land ports of entry, beyond its initial footprint at O.R. Tambo and Cape Town International.
Several practical details remain outstanding, including the ultimate fee structure and precisely how the ETA will interact with the existing eVisa regime for travellers who are not visa-exempt. We will monitor and report on these as they are settled.
WHY THIS MATTERS TO OUR CLIENTS
As identity and status become easier to verify electronically, they also become easier to enforce against. The practical stakes of getting it right, or wrong, rise accordingly for everyone with a connection to a foreign national's status in South Africa.
Foreign nationals
Those travelling to, residing in, or transacting in South Africa will increasingly need to provide biometric data as a condition of entry or of proving identity, and should expect the familiar green ID book to be phased out over the coming period.
Employers
Those who employ foreign staff should expect identity verification to move to digital, biometric rails, and should plan for closer scrutiny of documentation as inspections increase and the Employment Services Amendment Bill introduces quotas for foreign workers.
Foreign nationals and businesses
Those who own or register vehicles under a Traffic Registration Number should watch for the Department of Transport's forthcoming regulations, which are likely to affect how that number may be used for identification.
Every resident, citizen and non-citizen alike
Identity is being built on the same population register that will, over time, underpin an increasing share of interactions with Home Affairs, from civil registration to visa and permit applications.
QUESTIONS STILL TO BE RESOLVED
A programme of this scale raises legal questions that go well beyond immigration law, and it is too early to give definitive answers to any of them. Biometric data is defined as special personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, which ordinarily requires specific justification and safeguards before it may be processed. How the collection, storage and sharing of biometric data under the IPR and the ETA will be reconciled with those requirements, what oversight and breach-notification mechanisms will apply at the national scale, and what recourse an individual will have if their data is misused or a system error affects their status, are all matters that will need to be addressed as the enabling regulations and legislation are published. We would expect
These questions to feature prominently in public and parliamentary scrutiny of the reforms in the months ahead.
It is also worth remembering that much of what is described above is being implemented administratively, ahead of or alongside the legislative amendments still to be tabled in Parliament to give effect to the Revised White Paper. Clients should therefore expect the practical requirements at ports of entry and Home Affairs offices to keep evolving, sometimes faster than the underlying law.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
The government's response to public concern over migration has moved quickly from policy statement to technological rollout. The Intelligent Population Register and the Electronic Travel Authorisation are the clearest signs yet that the "generational reform" promised by the Revised White Paper is not confined to new visa categories or a points-based system; it is also a wholesale digitisation of how the state establishes who is in the country, and on what basis. For our clients, the practical message is to begin preparing for a biometric-first system now, while the legal framework around data protection, oversight and recourse is still being settled.
What digitisation also does is make compliance and non-compliance far easier to detect and to prove. A biometric register and an automated travel record leave little room for the informal workarounds that some have relied on in the past. In the next instalment, we turn to what that shift actually costs: the price, in money and in inconvenience, of staying on the right side of the rules, weighed against the price of falling foul of them, for foreign nationals themselves and for those tied to their status, including employers and spouses.
This article is published for general information and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on a particular matter, please contact Gittins Attorneys Inc.
