Historic win for Khoisan names, home affairs accepts special characters on IDs and passports

For the first time in South African history, birth certificates, smart ID cards, and passports can now recognise and record Khoisan traditional names.

The milestone was marked on Thursday when home affairs minister Leon Schreiber handed over the first smart ID produced by the department and the government printing works that reflects a Khoisan traditional name.

The breakthrough follows recent upgrades to the department’s IT systems after a technical limitation prevented certain Khoisan names, particularly those containing special characters, from being processed.

The issue came to light when a first-year student at Stellenbosch University, !Khūboab Oedasoua Lawrence was unable to obtain a smart ID reflecting his Khoisan first name.

For more than 18 years, he had been unable to secure a birth certificate that accurately reflected the spelling of his name.

Schreiber said he recently became aware of the matter.

“A month ago, I became aware of a young man, !Khūboab Lawrence, who could not obtain a smart ID because the system could not accommodate his traditional Khoisan first name. We immediately moved to upgrade our internal systems, and today [Thursday] I handed over the first home affairs smart ID containing a traditional Khoisan name to him.

“!Khūboab could not get an ID because outdated systems could not process all the characters used in his name. We immediately got to work on this long-overlooked injustice,” he said.

After the minister’s intervention, the department prioritised the matter and identified the root cause as a technical IT limitation linked to so-called “special characters” used in Khoisan languages.

“Just four weeks later, we have now enabled the use of traditional Khoisan names on birth certificates, smart IDs, and passports for the first time in South African history,” said Schreiber.

“This is how we are driving inclusion for all South Africans, including Khoi and San communities, and it demonstrates how our focus on digital transformation is delivering dignity for all.”

The director-general is expected to issue a circular to all home affairs offices, informing them of the system upgrade, while the department’s technical team remains on standby to implement further adjustments should additional special characters need to be accommodated.

The announcement comes as home affairs recorded its highest annual smart ID delivery rate.

In 2025, the department issued 4,002,964 smart ID cards, marking a 17% increase from the 3,427,468 cards issued in 2024.

The 2025 figure is also about 1.3-million higher than the number of smart IDs issued in 2022 and 2023.

The accelerated rollout forms part of the department’s medium-term development plan, which aims to phase out the older green barcoded ID book.

Home affairs estimates that the green ID book is about 500% more vulnerable to fraud than the smart ID, making its replacement a key priority for service delivery and national security.

The initiative is also expected to expand access by enabling more citizens to apply for and collect smart IDs at additional bank branches nationwide, reducing pressure on home affairs offices and bringing services closer to where people live and work.

With the latest upgrade, the department says its digital transformation efforts are not only improving efficiency but also restoring identity and recognition to communities whose names were previously excluded by outdated systems.

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