First Smart ID at 16

• The Identification Act, 1997 (Act 68 of 1997) applies to South African citizens and to persons who are lawfully and permanently resident in the Republic. Section 15(1) says any such person who has attained the age of 16 years shall apply for an identity card, in the prescribed form and within the prescribed period [source].
• The gov.za page for that Act lists one amendment: the Identification Amendment Act 28 of 2000. That Act replaces the definition of identity card, and the transitional section on green bar-coded identity documents. It does not amend section 15 [source, source].
• How many days the prescribed period is: not stated in the Act. The name or number of the prescribed form: not stated in the Act [source].
• Section 17(2): if a Home Affairs officer learns that a person covered by the Act has attained 16 and has not complied with section 15(1), that officer shall take the prescribed steps so that the person applies without delay. What those steps are: not stated in the Act [source].
• Section 18(2)(c): a person who without lawful cause refuses to comply with section 10 (fingerprints) or with section 15(1) is guilty of an offence, and is liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years. The rand amount of that fine: not stated in the Act [source].
• DHA's identity documents page cites the same Act and says an identity document is issued as soon as a person is eligible, from 16 years old and above. It says identity documents are issued to South African citizens and permanent residence permit holders from the age of 16 [source].
• The gov.za service page says that if you are 16 years and older, you may apply for an identity document. It says you will need an ID to register for matric exams, to get a driving licence, or to open a bank account [source].
• Applying before the 16th birthday: not stated by these sources. Each of them starts at 16, or at having attained 16.
• An upper age, after which someone who never applied may no longer apply: not stated by these sources. Section 15(1) has no upper age in its text [source].

The gov.za service page still says the green ID book is being replaced over eight years starting in 2014, so an application now will not necessarily produce an ID card. The identity documents page says a Smart ID card can be applied for at a modernised office [source, source]. The two pages do not explain the difference.

The identity documents page says Smart ID cards can only be applied for at modernised offices, including banks, DHA offices in malls, and mobile offices [source]. The Digital Partnership page is the current bank walk-in service, and it says a first ID is not part of that service. First-time ID applications, and the example it gives is turning 16, are not yet available at those branches. The answer on the same page to "Can I apply for a first-time ID at a bank branch?" is no: first-time ID applications must be done at a Home Affairs office. Children applying for a first ID, or for any other document, must also apply at a Home Affairs office [source].

A gov.za statement of 22 July 2026 says the Digital Partnership will continue to expand before the end of the year to include adult and minor passports and first-time Smart ID card applications [source]. The Digital Partnership page still lists first-time IDs as not yet available. This page was checked on 23 October 2026 [source].

The office visit itself can be booked on BABS, which DHA describes as a time slot to get into the office, not as a bank booking. Walk-in wording for offices, and the bank routes, are on Booking and walk-ins [source].

People living abroad: the identity documents page says they can apply for ID books at a South African mission or consulate, and that the application is sent to Head Office in Pretoria. A first Smart ID card at a mission: not stated in that sentence. Delivery from abroad takes longer than a local application, because of the logistics [source].

Collection, on that page: a green ID book is collected from the office where the application was made. A Smart ID card is collected at the modernised office you chose when you applied. Specify that office before the application is closed. DHA sends progress and collection messages to the cellphone number captured on the application [source].

The eHomeAffairs how-to says you can capture an application for yourself, or for a minor directly related to you, which it describes as typically a minor passport. A first Smart ID for a 16-year-old captured by a parent on that form: not stated by source [source].

Nedbank also says that at the branch appointment the requirements differ for children under 18, and it refers you to DHA for those requirements. Photos for the ID card: Nedbank says you do not bring them, because the image is captured on site [source].

Nedbank's DHA paragraph, which is not a DHA page, adds a birth certificate and proof of address for a citizen's first application, and it also tells the citizen to take the barcoded green ID book. A certified copy: not stated by source [source].

Naturalised citizens and permanent residence permit holders: the identity documents page puts that list under the ID book heading, not under the Smart ID heading. It asks for the original naturalisation certificate and a copy, the original permanent residence certificate and a copy, and the original exemption certificate and a copy. Home Affairs certifies the copies. If a certificate cannot be furnished, you must apply for a reprint before the ID book application. Whether those originals are also required for a first Smart ID: not stated under the Smart ID heading [source].

• Identity documents page, first Smart ID: the applicant must be accompanied by their parent or parents where the parents are alive. It can be one parent, in person. Where the parents are deceased, an informant or a legal guardian should accompany the applicant. The page uses "must" for living parents and "should" for the informant or guardian [source].
• The same bullets do not state an age at which a first-time applicant no longer needs that person. A 16-year-old and an older first-time applicant are not split [source].
• A rule that the parent must sign the form: not stated on the identity documents page or in the brochure [source, source].
• Brochure, youth 16 and above: the list includes a parent, legal guardian or informant's identity document. That someone must attend with the applicant: not stated by source [source].
• ID book heading: a parent in attendance: not stated under that heading [source].
• FNB, for a minor's application on the eHomeAffairs route: one parent for a Smart ID, both parents for a passport. FNB's age for "minor": not stated by source [source].
• Nedbank: if you are younger than 18, a parent or guardian must accompany you. That sentence sits in the citizen paragraph [source].
• Capitec, Standard Bank and Absa: a parent for a first ID: not stated by source [source, source, source].
• Digital Partnership: children cannot apply at those branches. Who attends at the Home Affairs office: not restated there [source].

The brochure's free category is worded "youth who are 16 years and above". The fees page's free row is "Issuing of first document", with no later age on that row. A cutoff after which a first issue starts to cost R140: not stated by source [source, source, source].

A separate first-time fee, or a bank convenience fee, for a first ID at a Digital Partnership branch: not stated by source. That page says the first-time service is not available there, states R140 for a Smart ID card, and says banks may charge a convenience fee [source]. Standard Bank's cost answer says applicants are charged a R140 DHA fee and that Standard Bank is currently not charging a convenience fee. It does not mention the free first issue [source].

The fees page also lists a frame of four black and white photos taken for ID applications at R40.00, and a temporary identity certificate at R70.00 [source]. Whether a modernised office charges the photo frame for a first Smart ID: not stated by source. The temporary certificate is described on Replacing a lost or stolen Smart ID.

• The Act says a person of 16 or older shall, at their own expense, furnish two prescribed copies of a recent photograph when applying for an identity card, and shall have fingerprints taken so that they can be included in the population register. Section 15(2) says those two photographs and the fingerprints accompany the application [source].
• The ID book list on the identity documents page asks for two identical colour photographs and a full set of fingerprints [source].
• The first-time Smart ID list on that page, and the youth list in the brochure, do not mention photographs [source, source].
• On the travel documents page, the passport document list says two colour photographs are not needed at Smart ID card offices, because the ID image is captured digitally. That sentence is in the passport section [source].
• Nedbank, for an ID card application: do not bring photos. The image is captured on site at the appointment [source].

These sources do not say which of those rules a first Smart ID at a modernised office uses on the day you go.

The travel documents page says a person aged 16 or older must first apply for an identity document to enable fingerprint registration before applying for a passport [source].

• An ordinary tourist passport and a maxi passport are for citizens 16 or older. A minor tourist passport is for citizens 15 or younger [source].
• If the passport applicant is under 18, parental consent is required. For a child's passport, both parents and the child must be present, and the page says exceptions apply [source].
• Those are passport rules. They are not the Smart ID attendance rule on the identity documents page, which says one parent in person can accompany a first Smart ID applicant [source, source].

Passport fees and the longer document list are on Fees and documents.

• The number of days after the 16th birthday in which the application must be made. The Act says "within the prescribed period" and does not print the number [source].
• The form number for a first Smart ID. The travel documents page names Form DHA-73 for a passport, not for the identity document [source, source, source].
• A school letter, a clinic card, or proof of grade. The gov.za page says an ID is needed to register for matric. It does not say the school must supply a letter for the ID application [source].
• A police report for a first ID: not stated by source [source, source].
• Which of the two DHA document lists an office will accept if you bring only one of them [source, source].