by Birth records play a major part when someone is looking to enroll in a school, obtain a passport or driver’s license. Government use them to determine their financial allocations and research purposes. This all show the importance of keeping them. South Africa, just like all countries keep these records. This article will give you tips on how to find birth records in South Africa.
South Africa is a country found at the southern tip of Africa. It has the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean on its south. The country is bordered by Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the north and Mozambique and Eswatini on the east. The population of South Africa is above 60 million with 80 % being blacks, 8 % colored, 7 % whites and 2 % Asians.
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Birth Certificates in South Africa
The Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1992 requires that all children born in South Africa must be registered within 30 days after birth. The Form BI-24 must be completed by a parent, parents or guardian of the child using black ink. It is then to be submitted to the nearest Department of Home Affairs Office for those living in South Africa. For those who live outside South Africa and overseas, they can submit it to the closest South African embassy, consulate or mission.
Immediately after the registration of the child’s birth, a birth certificate is issued for free. This normally happens a day or so after submitting the registration application. This will then have all the records of birth in it.
Birth certificates in South African are issued when requested to people who are South African citizens, living in South Africa or outside the country. They are also issued to people who frequently live or stay permanently in South Africa who are not South African citizens.
The last name of both the mother and father are used when registering a child who was born within wedlock, that is, if both parents give consent. The last name of the mother is used when registering children born out of wedlock.
It is possible to also register the child under the last name of the biological father provided the father acknowledges paternity of the child. The mother has to also give consent for the child to be registered under the father’s last name. This has to be done in the presence of a Home Affairs official.
How to Get Copies of Birth Certificates in South Africa
In order to obtain a copy of a birth certificate in South Africa, you must first fill in Form BI-154 which you will then have to submit to the closest Department of Home Affairs office if you are in South Africa. For those outside South Africa, they are to submit it to their nearest consulate, embassy or mission. You will also be expected to pay the required fees to obtain the copy of the certificate.
For more information, you can contact the Department of Home Affairs.
There are a number of sources that you can use to find birth records in South Africa. Here are a few of them that you can try out.
National Archives of South Africa
Archives play an important role when it comes to genealogical research. The repositories that keep the archival groups which have the genealogical information have guides that have been prepared to enable you to easily located the information you are after.
You can contact the National Archives of South Africa for government archival services.
The Genealogical Society of South Africa
The Genealogical Society of South Africa began operations in 1964. It has twelve branches. Eleven of those are land based, with one which is electronic catering for worldwide members online. This is a great tool for amateur family researchers.
There are research links that you can use to find information on birth records in South Africa from this platform. These include family registers, family websites, general interests and other websites of interests. To use these features, upon reaching the site, hover your mouse over the ‘Research Links’ function. This will reveal the links.
For more information and further assistance from the Genealogical Society of South Africa, you can get in touch with its National Executive Council. They are also available on Facebook.
South African Genealogy
For lots of freely available Passenger Lists to search through, South African Genealogy has collected them for you. A new database containing information on military deserters in the Cape Colony in the 1800s is also available. Make sure to visit the site frequently as more data is being added on regular basis.
To search, enter the information on the search bar and search. You can filer your results by adding the ‘From Date’ and ‘To Date’.
Cyndi’s List
Cyndi’s List offers a categorized, comprehensive cross referenced number of links that will direct you to the appropriate genealogical research websites for South African birth records. Great collection to find someone date of birth.
These are some of the sources you can consider on how to find birth records in South Africa. There is a number of them, so make sure you try as many as possible as they have different information on the databases.
