The production of a high security South African passport started on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer of the Government Printing Works said.
"The new passport contains several high security features that are tamper-proof, making it impossible to forge," Tom Moyane told a media briefing in Pretoria.
He said the passport holder's biographical data was laser- engraved on a polycarbonate page in the new passport. It also has a fine-line security background design depicting the so-called "Big Five" animals on the pages. The stitching in the new passport is interlocked, making it durable.
Mr Moyane said it took the Government Printing Works four years to research the new passport and they were confident it could not be forged. The government had invested half-a-billion rands in the production of the new passports.
Home Affairs Spokeswoman Siobhan McCarthy said the existing South African passport would remain valid until its expiry date or until it ran out of pages.
The new passport would be issued to applicants who had recently applied for passports.
She said the online fingerprint verification system would be used to confirm the identity of the applicant as well as to minimize risks of identity fraud. That would require the applicant to visit home affairs' offices or foreign missions in person to apply.
The new passport was introduced with the aim of improving customer service and stamping out forgery, said McCarthy.
Moyane said there would be one colour passport for both adults and children. The difference would be the code between adults and children.
The new passport came at a time when Britain said South African visitors must have a visa because of concerns over the security of South African passports.