What does a South African ID number encode?

The first six digits are the date of birth, the next four are a gender serial (0000–4999 female, 5000–9999 male), the eleventh digit is citizenship (0 = citizen, 1 = permanent resident), and the last digit is a Luhn checksum.

How is the year's century determined?

The ID stores only a 2-digit year. This tool infers the century by comparing it against the current year, so very old numbers may need manual interpretation.

Is my ID number uploaded anywhere?

No. The decoder runs entirely in your browser with client-side JavaScript — your ID number is never uploaded or stored.

South Africa ID Number Decoder

Decode birth date, gender and citizenship from a South African ID.

South African ID number decoder

A South African ID number is 13 digits that encode the holder’s date of birth, gender, citizenship status, and a final Luhn check digit. This decoder reads each field and verifies the checksum so you can spot typos at a glance.

Everything runs in your browser, so the ID number you enter is never uploaded. This is a structure and checksum decoder only — it does not confirm the number against the Department of Home Affairs.