How to register a death in South Africa

When someone dies, the death must be registered with the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). The law says no burial or cremation may take place until the death has been reported and Home Affairs, or another person the law allows, has issued a burial order. You also need the death certificate to report the estate and to claim what the person leaves behind.

Who reports the death and where

The person who reports the death is called the informant. Home Affairs says this is a family member, or someone the family appoints with a letter of authority.

You can report the death:

• at a Home Affairs office,
• through a funeral undertaker that Home Affairs has designated. Only designated funeral undertakers may register deaths, and the undertaker must show proof that the family appointed it. Ask the undertaker for its Home Affairs designation.
• at a police station, especially where there is no Home Affairs office nearby, or
• at a South African embassy, high commission or consulate, if the person died outside South Africa.

When to report it

The regulations say notice of a death must be given within 72 hours of the death. This applies to everyone who dies in South Africa, whether or not they were a South African citizen.

What you need

1. The notice of death form (DHA-1663) from the doctor. A doctor who treated the person, or who examined the body afterwards, completes it if satisfied that the death was natural. The doctor must give you the original form free of charge.
2. If no doctor certified the death, the notice is given on form DHA-1680. Home Affairs says an authority other than a doctor, such as a traditional authority, completes it.
3. The deceased’s original ID. For a child, bring the original birth certificate. Home Affairs keeps the ID and cancels it.
4. A certified copy of your own ID, as the informant.
5. Fingerprints (biometrics) of the deceased and the informant on the form. If they can’t be taken, bring an affidavit that explains why.

What Home Affairs gives you

• A burial order. Give it to the person in charge of the cemetery or crematorium. You also need it to move the body to another district for burial.
• A death certificate. Home Affairs issues an abridged death certificate free of charge on the day it registers the death. If it can’t issue the certificate straight away, you get a proof of notice of death to use in the meantime.

The death certificate shows the cause of death as “natural causes”, “unnatural causes”, or “under investigation” with a police case number. Home Affairs says the family can’t ask for the cause of death to be left out.

An unabridged death certificate

An unabridged death certificate, also called a vault copy, has the full record. Apply for one at a Home Affairs office on form DHA-132 and pay the fee. Home Affairs lists the current fee on its tariffs and fees page.

If the death was not from natural causes

If a doctor thinks the death was not natural, for example after an accident or violence, the doctor doesn’t complete the natural-causes section and tells the police. The police investigate, and a doctor may do a post-mortem examination. Once the body is no longer needed, the police or Home Affairs can register the death without a cause and issue the burial order. Home Affairs says a funeral undertaker that it has authorised to issue burial orders can also issue one.

A stillbirth

A stillborn baby must be given a name, and the birth and the death are both registered before the burial or cremation. Notice of a stillbirth is also given within 72 hours, on the same notice of death form.

If the person died outside South Africa

Report the death to the nearest South African embassy, high commission or consulate, or to any Home Affairs office in South Africa. Take:

• the death certificate, or another document about the death, from the authorities of the country where the person died. Home Affairs asks for it to be apostilled or authenticated,
• a copy of the deceased’s ID or passport, and
• a copy of your own ID or passport, and your visa or permit if you have one.

If the person is to be buried in South Africa, the embassy or consulate helps with the documents to bring the body home.

Common problems

The death certificate shows the wrong marital status

If the person’s marriage was never captured on the Home Affairs system, the certificate can show them as single. Home Affairs says to submit the marriage register or other supporting documents, so that the marriage is captured and a new death certificate is issued.

Home Affairs can’t print the death certificate

Home Affairs says the family can bury the person with a handwritten death certificate while it fixes the record, for example when two people share an ID number.

You need the deceased’s birth or marriage certificate

After a person has died, Home Affairs only issues their unabridged birth and marriage certificates, not the abridged ones.

You are alive but recorded as dead

You may find out when a bank or another service tells you that Home Affairs records you as deceased. A person can be recorded as dead by mistake or through fraud. Report it to your nearest Home Affairs office as soon as possible. Take your ID, an affidavit from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and one ID photo. Home Affairs takes your fingerprints and investigates, and the police may be involved.

After the death is registered

• Report the estate: a deceased person’s estate must be reported to the Master of the High Court within 14 days of the death. See report estate of deceased on gov.za.
• UIF: if the person contributed to UIF, their spouse, life partner or children may be able to claim dependants’ benefits.
• Retirement funds: check whether a fund still owes the person money: see how to find unclaimed pension money.

Stay safe

• The abridged death certificate is free. Pay Home Affairs fees only to Home Affairs, and don’t pay anyone to “speed up” a death certificate.
• If a funeral undertaker registers the death for you, check that Home Affairs has designated it, and keep the certificate and the burial order that it collects for you.