The Department of Transport plans to amend the National Road Traffic Regulations so that driving licences, learner’s licences and Traffic Register Number (TRN) certificates can no longer be used as identity documents.
If adopted, the change would stop South Africans using a driving licence as proof of identity at bank branches, offices, airports and residential estate gates. They would instead need a green ID book, smart ID card or valid passport.
The department said the move followed a 2023 investigation it carried out with the Department of Home Affairs, which found that institutions were treating TRNs and licences as general identification in breach of the Identification Act of 1997. That law makes Home Affairs the only authority that keeps the National Population Register and issues identity documents.
| Document | Current practice | Proposed status |
| Driving licence | Widely accepted as ID at estates, offices and some institutions | Road traffic transactions only |
| Learner’s licence | Sometimes accepted as ID | Road traffic transactions only |
| TRN certificate | Treated as ID by some institutions | Road traffic use only; issuing centralised at provincial help desks |
| ID for non-permanent residents | TRN used on NaTIS | Unexpired passport plus Home Affairs permit |
| Green ID book | Valid ID | Production ends 31 March 2027; invalid from 31 March 2028 |
TRNs were created only to let people without a South African ID number transact on the National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) while they finalised their legal status with Home Affairs. The department said the amendments would remove legal ambiguity, curb abuse and align road traffic law with the Identification Act.
Under the amended Regulation 1, all documents issued under traffic legislation will be removed from the definition of acceptable identification. For people who are not permanent residents, acceptable identification will mean an unexpired passport with a Home Affairs permit. Provisions that recognised TRNs as identification have been deleted, and provinces have already been told to centralise TRN issuing at provincial help desks.
The department has warned that banks, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), offices and residential estates will need to review their policies and systems once the rules take effect. Many banks already refuse licences as proof of identity. The larger adjustment is likely at estate and office-park gates, where scanning a licence has become a common way of logging visitors.
The proposal comes as Home Affairs narrows the range of identity documents in circulation. On 1 October, Minister Leon Schreiber announced that production of the green ID book will stop on 31 March 2027 and that it will cease to be valid on 31 March 2028. About 14.7 million citizens and permanent residents hold only the green book. More than 500,000 people had applied for smart ID cards at partner bank branches by early August, after the service launched on 9 March.
Holders of only a green book will have 12 months after production stops to obtain a smart card. Before then, Home Affairs plans to extend smart ID cards to naturalised citizens, permanent residents and South Africans living abroad, groups that have historically been excluded. Schreiber had previously set a 2029 target for the phase-out. The minister has said bank partnerships raised access to smart ID services by 250% in 19 weeks. Together, the two departments’ moves would leave the smart ID card and the passport as the main documents institutions can rely on.
Members of the public and institutions will have 30 days from publication in the Government Gazette to comment. The department said the regulations would take effect only once submissions had been considered and incorporated into a full set of amendments.