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The Death Certificate

The Death Certificate is an important document. It will help you to sort out all the administrative details, such as life policies, bank accounts, estates and executors.

Make a few certified copies of the Death Certificate.

Remember that when you send the Death Certificate or any other official documents to policy institutions, you need to send all the pages of the document, and not just the first page.

How to get a Death Certificate

1. The attending doctor/ medical professional, or the SAPS in the case of unnatural deaths, will issue a DHA 1663 (Department of Home Affairs Notification of Death).
2. You will be required to fill in the forms and provide copies of the deceased’s ID smartcard or green barcoded ID book, which will then be sent to the Department of Home Affairs for registration and a Death Certificate (DHA-5) will be issued.
3. The Department of Home Affairs will issue a Death Certificate on receipt of the Notification of Death (Form 1663) and the Death Report (Form BI-1680). Your undertaker and / or medical doctor can help you to obtain these.
4. If the death occurred abroad, the applications for a Death Certificate must be lodged at any office of the Department of Home Affairs or at any South African embassy, mission or consulate.
5. A Death Report (Form BI-1680) will be issued by an authorised person after a death has been registered. Authorised people include members of the SAPS, authorised undertakers or traditional leaders.
6. The Department of Home Affairs will issue an abridged death certificate free of charge on the same day of registration of death. An unabridged death certificate can be obtained by completing Form BI-132.
7. Note that no burial is allowed to take place in South Africa without a certified burial order (Form BI-14).

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