South Africa - Application to give Notice of Death

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. In order to apply for reporting a death, the person who wants to report a death has to visit the Office of Department of Home Affairs or South African Police Service members in case if there is no Office of Department of Home Affairs in the place where the death occurred.
2. The contact details of the Office of Department of Home Affairs for each province can be found in the following link: Link Click on the province name which is applicable to you and you will get the details according to that.
3. Visit the office and get the Form BI-1663 (Notification of death/still-birth) for notifying the occurred death. The application form can also be found in the following link: Link
4. The form has different sections and each section should be filled by the concerned person carefully. Section A is to be filled by an Authorised Medical Practitioner or a Professional Nurse who examines the body to detect the cause of death.
5. After that, the informant (one who informs the death) must verify and also fill in the personal details and information of the deceased wherever necessary in the Section A of the form.
6. Then, Section B is to be filled by the same Medical Practitioner or a Professional Nurse who filled the Section A and Section C should be filled by a Medical Practitioner or a Forensic Pathologist who performs the Medico-legal investigation of death.
7. Further, the informant should provide his/her particulars in Section D and the informant is responsible for certifying the identity of the deceased.
8. The section E should be completed by an Authorised Funeral Undertaker who records his/her finger print, finger print of the deceased and the informant.
9. Then, the funeral undertaker or the informant should submit the application form along with the required documents at the nearest office of Department of Home Affairs to get the remaining part (Section F) of the form filled by a Home Affairs official.
10. Confirm that you have all the documents listed in the “Required documents” section of this page.
11. In case if no Home Affairs official is available, then a member of the SA Police Services can be contacted to complete the form. Now, you have successfully notified the death.
12. Now, that the death had been registered, a Death Report (Form BI-1680) and an abridged Death Certificate (temporary certificate without full details of death) will be issued by the authority declared by Department of Home Affairs like traditional leaders, members of the SA Police Services or Authorised Funeral Undertakers on the same day of registration.
13. A burial order (Form BI-14) will also be issued along with the death report which is mandatory for burying the deceased.
14. The Application Form BI-1663, completed BI-132 form and Death Report Form BI-1680 must be lodged and required fees should be paid at the office of the Department of Home Affairs for getting a Death certificate which will contain the complete details of the death and deceased person.

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Required Documents

• Completely filled Form BI-1663
• Copy of the mortal’s ID
• Copy of Informant’s Identity document
• Medical certificate indicating the cause of death (if required)

Office Locations & Contacts

Department of Home Affairs - Head Office
Physical Address : Hallmark Building,
230 Johannes Ramokhoase,
Pretoria,
Gauteng,
0001,
South Africa.
Postal Adress : Private Bag X114,
Pretoria,
0001,
Phone: 012 406 2500
Email: [email protected]
Website ,Link 2

Department Of Home Affairs Offices

Eligibility

• The person whose death is to be registered should possess a valid Identity document.
• The person who informs the death should also possess a valid Identity document.

Fees

• Abridged Death Certificate – Free of charge
  

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

• Application Form: Link
  

Sample Documents

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Processing Time

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Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
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sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
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e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• A death can also be reported to Funeral undertakers who are appointed and recognised by the law.
• Contact the family doctor or hospital about getting the medical certificate of cause of death.
• Contact a funeral director to transport the deceased from the place of death (if death didn't occur at a hospital) to the nearest State Mortuary. The deceased will have to be formally identified at the mortuary before the body's released to the funeral director.
• When a medical practitioner is not available to complete this form, in rural areas for example, a traditional leader may complete the form.
• All family members, friends and deceased’s Employer should be notified about the death.
• The deceased’s Will should have information about the wishes of the deceased, and the necessary steps should be taken to contact people mentioned in the Will.

Required Information

• Particulars of the deceased
• Particulars of the person who informs the death
• Identity Document number of the deceased

Need for the Document

• The Births and Deaths Registration Act requires that a person’s death be registered or reported to any concerned officials.
  

Information which might help

• Deaths of South African citizens and South African permanent residence permit holders that occur outside South Africa must be reported to the nearest South African embassy or mission abroad.
• The country in which the death occurs must issue a death certificate and a certified copy of the death certificate must be submitted to the South African embassy or mission when reporting a death.
• If the deceased is to be buried in South Africa, the embassy or mission will assist with the paperwork and arrangements with regards to transportation of the body to South Africa.
• If a person has been erroneously or fraudulently recorded as dead in the National Population Register (i.e. they are still alive) this must be reported as soon as possible to the nearest Department of Home Affairs office for urgent investigation and corrective action.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

• An unabridged Death Certificate will be required at the time of Emigration purposes and Visas for certain countries.
  

External Links

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Others

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