The rollout of smart ID cards by the Department has been implemented in phases. The first phase focuses on South African born citizens and those born abroad from South African parents. The second phase will be based on other categories including naturalised citizens as there is a need to verify their records.
Currently records for naturalised citizens are archived in manual paper form. The Department is to set up a mechanism to digitise such records first to enable verification of naturalised citizens with ease. An announcement will be made by the Department once such process is concluded.