South Africa ID number verification API: 13-digit structure, Luhn check and Home Affairs records

Field layout of the 13-digit ID number

Running the Luhn check

1. Starting from the right, double every second digit, beginning with the twelfth digit.
2. Where a doubled value exceeds 9, subtract 9.
3. Sum all thirteen digits after the doubling.
4. The number is valid when the sum is a multiple of 10.

A number that passes Luhn and has a real date of birth is well formed. It still needs the Home Affairs check to prove the person exists and is alive.

Response contents of a South Africa ID verification API

A parse result tells you whether a number is well formed. A verification response tells you whether the person in front of the camera owns it. deepidv runs one session: document capture with OCR and the AI document fraud check, face liveness with a 1:1 match to the document photo, the Home Affairs record check, PEP and sanctions screening, and an optional 1:N match that flags the same face behind a second account.

• One decision per session, with an outcome for every step, delivered by webhook (session.status.verified, session.status.rejected, session.status.failed).
• A reason for every non-pass outcome, separating malformed input, a record that was not found, a mismatch between document and record, and a registry that did not answer.
• A signed verification receipt with a UTC timestamp per step, anchored on Base L2 with zero personal data on chain, checkable at proof.deepidv.com.

Capturing the Smart ID card and ID book

The Smart ID card carries a chip and, on the back, a PDF417 barcode that encodes the printed data alongside a Code 39 barcode holding the ID number. The green barcoded ID book is still valid and is easier to forge, so deepidv weights its document fraud check accordingly. Both are captured in a single shot.

Home Affairs record checks

The Department of Home Affairs population register confirms the ID number, name, date of birth, citizenship status and whether the person is recorded as deceased, and returns a photo for face matching. Personal information is processed under POPIA.

Liveness, face match and FICA

FICA requires accountable institutions to identify and verify clients under a risk-based approach, documented in a Risk Management and Compliance Programme, with suspicious transactions reported to the FIC through goAML. deepidv runs passive liveness, a face match and PEP and sanctions screening in one session, and Arbiter drafts the report for review.

How deepidv runs South Africa verification

deepidv is a verification engine and agentic compliance suite built from the ground up, without third-party verification APIs underneath. The engine is SOC 2, ISO 27001 and PCI DSS certified, and deepidv is a member of DIACC and the AVPA. Luna, the verification agent, builds and sends South Africa verification workflows from the platform or from any LLM through MCP. Arbiter, the compliance agent, maps the workflow to FICA requirements, monitors accounts after onboarding and drafts suspicious transaction reports for the FIC for your team to review.