Public records, such as birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage certificates, are issued and maintained by the Department of Home Affairs as the only institution in the country. To obtain information about physical records, a written request must be sent to the Department of Home Affairs with exact details regarding the event. Physical records cannot be accessed by the public for research purposes.

It is true that the DHA has an SMS tracking and tracing service that can be used to check the status of death, birth, and marriage. However, the service doesn’t seem to work at all, so you are left with either visiting your nearest DHA branch or seeking assistance from a document agent.

Where Can I Find Death Records?

It might seem logical to make your way to your local Department of Home Affairs. Nevertheless, you will soon discover that the queues are extremely long and do not seem to get any shorter. When you apply and when you pick up your documents, you will have to take a day off. The majority of the time, you are sent home without making an application because you do not have the form you are supposed to have. 

There is no way to overstate the frustration of a DHA visit. Although applying yourself is cheaper, do you have the mental energy to follow through with the process? Generally speaking, most people are not able to devote the time and energy necessary to this process, so they opt to hire an agent. However, be careful because some agents may take advantage of your desperate situation and charge much more than they should. 

Our goal at Doc Assist is to ensure that you receive legal documents from the DHA smoothly and painlessly. We will only charge you for the work we perform. It is much faster for us to process your documents than it would be if you applied through the DHA directly. Therefore, you can expect your documents to arrive in weeks, not months or years, as opposed to months or years if you applied through the DHA directly. 

The Department of Home Affairs cannot be visited by those living abroad who require death records in South Africa. We can assist you with this process with Doc Assist. Simply supply us with the details – ID number, details of the death – and we will take care of the rest. We can also apostil or legalize your document when it is ready. Once the document has been completed, we will deliver it to your doorstep via DHL.

Get what you need with Doc Assist fast and efficiently. Give us a call for more information.