Tool · ID number

What does a South African ID number mean?

Enter 13 digits to see the structure. The number is not stored.

ID number

YYMMDDDate of birth

Two-digit year, month and day.

Digits 1–6

SSSSSex sequence

0000–4999 is allocated as female; 5000–9999 as male in the official validation specification.

Digits 7–10

CCitizenship indicator

0 = South African; 1 = Other in the current SARS validation specification. Do not use this digit alone to prove present citizenship or immigration status.

Digits 11

AAdministrative digit

Usually 8 or 9 in the current SARS validation specification, but other values can occur. It is administrative and should not be used to infer personal characteristics.

Digits 12

ZCheck digit

A Luhn-style control digit used to test whether the number sequence is internally valid.

Digits 13

What this basically means

Passing the date/structure/checksum checks only means the number is internally plausible. It does not prove identity, current citizenship, immigration status or that the number belongs to the person presenting it.

Official validation source →