South African birth, marriage and death records

Civil registration – the government recording of births, marriages and deaths – began at different times in the different colonies before 1910, and later everywhere. The records are a good source for exact dates, places and parents' names, but they are harder to reach than in many countries.

Online, free

FamilySearch (free account) has indexed and filmed a good part of the older records, for example Transvaal civil deaths 1869–1954 (death records from 1899–1902 are filed by concentration camp and district) and Transvaal civil marriages, which give the couple's ages, birthplaces and whose consent was given. Its Western Cape Archives collection includes civil registrations for places across the Cape. More recent records are often only indexes, or not online.

Home Affairs certificates

Home Affairs keeps the official registers. Its records are not open for browsing, but you can apply for a copy of a certificate. Ask for an unabridged (full) certificate: an abridged one leaves out the parents and other details. Applications for old records can take many months.

Tips

A death record usually gives an age, not a birth date – work the birth year out, then look for a baptism.
Marriage records of minors say whose consent was given – often naming a parent.
For the years before civil registration, use church registers instead.

Useful links

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Checked October 2026. Archives and websites change – tell us with "Report a problem" if something here is out of date.