While an identity number seems more or less like a random 13-digit number, it says a lot more about a person than it seems.
In the 50s, the apartheid government – through ID numbers among other means – racially categorised citizens through the Population Registration Act.
During that era, the first six digits gave the holder’s birth date, the next four distinguished people born on the same day and were to differentiate between sexes. The 11th number indicated whether or not the person is a South African (SA) citizen. The next number was a racial identifier which ranged from zero to seven, while the 13th number acted as an arithmetical control. Since the fall of apartheid, the racial indicators were removed.
How to work out the current format by using random numbers: 940512
- First six numbers – are the holder’s birth date in the YYMMDD format
- The next four numbers represent gender, that is, 5 000 and above indicates the holder is a male and 4999 and below indicates the holder is female
- 11th digit – country of origin: 0 for SA and 1 for other nationalities
- 12th digit – used to be a racial identifier and now, it doesn’t mean anything
- 13th digit – ID verification number.
For a male person born on 12 May 1994 in SA, the ID number would look like this: 940512 5163 084 (male SA citizen)
For a female person born on 12 May 1994 in SA, the ID number would look like this: 940512 0361 084 (female SA citizen).
