To get a death certificate in South Africa, the death must first be registered with Home Affairs using form BI-1663, the notification of death. Once it is registered, Home Affairs issues an abridged death certificate free of charge on the same day, and the family receives a burial order, without which no burial may take place. A full, unabridged certificate costs R75.
Step 1: get the medical certificate
A person present at the death must contact the family doctor or the hospital to get a medical certificate of the cause of death. The doctor completes the medical section of form BI-1663. Where a medico-legal investigation is needed, such as after an unnatural death, the medical practitioner or forensic pathologist conducting it completes a separate section.
Step 2: report the death
The Births and Deaths Registration Act requires a death to be reported. You can report it to:
- an authorised official at a Home Affairs office
- a member of the South African Police Service, especially where there is no Home Affairs office nearby
- a South African embassy, mission or consulate, if the death happened abroad
Form BI-1663 has separate sections for the doctor, the person reporting the death and the Home Affairs official. Where no Home Affairs official is available, a police officer may complete the official’s section. In remote rural areas with no health facility, the Act also allows traditional leaders to complete a death notification. Funeral undertakers must be registered with Home Affairs and record their registration number and fingerprints on the form.
Step 3: the death report and burial order
After the death is registered, the person reporting it receives a death report (form BI-1680) and a burial order (form BI-14). No burial may take place without a burial order. Only people Home Affairs has authorised can issue the death report, including traditional leaders, police officers and authorised undertakers, so ask your undertaker which forms it will handle and which you must sign.
Step 4: collect the death certificate
Home Affairs issues the death certificate once it has the notification of death and the death report. The first abridged certificate is free and is issued on the day the death is registered.
Before you leave, check the ID number, the spelling of the names and surname, and the marital status. Mistakes must be corrected at Home Affairs, so fix them before the certificate is used for the estate or insurance claims.
The certificate records whether the death was natural or unnatural. It does not state the medical cause of death.
Abridged or unabridged
| Document | Fee | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| First abridged death certificate | Free | Issued on the day the death is registered |
| Re-issued abridged death certificate | R20 | Apply at Home Affairs |
| Unabridged death certificate | R75 | Complete form BI-132 at a Home Affairs office and pay the fee |
An unabridged certificate gives fuller details than the abridged version and is often required when the document will be used outside South Africa. Home Affairs fees can change, so confirm the amount at the office. Fees for other documents are in our guide to Home Affairs services and fees.
If the death happened outside South Africa
The death of a South African citizen or permanent resident abroad must be reported to the nearest South African embassy or mission. The country where the person died issues its own death certificate, and a certified copy goes to the mission with form BI-1663, a written request with your contact details and a certified copy of the deceased’s passport, ID or birth certificate. A certificate not in English must be accompanied by a sworn translation. According to the High Commission in Canberra, there is no fee to register a death abroad. If the person is to be buried in South Africa, the mission helps with the paperwork for bringing the body home.
What the certificate is needed for
You will need certified copies of the death certificate to report the estate to the Master of the High Court and for banks, insurers and pension funds. Make certified copies early. If the person left no will, our guide to dying without a will explains who inherits.
Where to check
- Western Cape Government: obtaining a death certificate
- Western Cape Government: registering a death
- Your nearest Home Affairs office, for the current fee and to correct errors on a certificate
HOW WE REPORTED THIS
- The reporting channels, forms, burial order rule, free same-day abridged certificate and R75 unabridged fee were taken from Western Cape Government service pages on obtaining a death certificate and registering a death.
- The R20 and R75 fees were checked against Government Notice 1123 of 2012, which set fees under the Births and Deaths Registration Act.
- The rules for deaths abroad were taken from a South African High Commission page.
- The Department of Home Affairs' own death registration page could not be retrieved.
- No comment was sought from Home Affairs.
