How To Legally Change Your Name In South Africa
The Identification Act 68 of 1997, when read in conjunction with the Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA) 51 of 1992, allows for the correction, enlargement, and revision of personal information about persons that is kept on file in the South African National Population Register (NPR).
According to Section 24 of the BDRA, changing your first name is as simple as visiting the Department of Home Affairs and submitting a Form BI-85.
Adults, those who have not been declared majors under the Age of Majority Act, and those who have not been legally married are subject to different tariffs.
Requirements
The forms should be submitted with the following documents:
For the purpose of processing a new identity document, two passport photos
your proof of identity with your existing name and last name, both of which you must give up.
You can change your forename for just R140, which will likely save you a lot of personal embarrassment over the course of your lifetime.
The waiting period before the adjustment is put into effect is the only drawback to this approach. Due to the requirement that the amendment be published in the Government Gazette, it may take three to four months.
According to Section 25 of the BDRA, you can legally change a minor’s last name by properly completing a Form BI-193.
If a mother marries someone other than the child’s biological father after having an unwed child and wants to change the child’s legal father,she gave her child her husband’s last name.
If a mother chooses to change the child’s surname to her maiden surname, another surname she lawfully adopted, or, if she has remarried, to the surname of her new husband, she must do so after divorcing or losing her spouse, who must be the child’s biological father.
if the mother wants to alter the child’s last name to her maiden name after the child was born out of wedlock but was still given the biological father’s surname.
If a guardian of a minor chooses to change the child’s last name to their own, they must do it in writing.
other circumstances that weren’t covered above but in which the change is justified.instances where there is a good and sufficient justification for the change that was not covered above.
Assuming a new last name (Section 26 of Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992)
A woman may take on her husband’s last name, go back to using her maiden name or a previous surname that she was legally allowed to use. As of 1997, a woman may also double-barrel her last name with her husband’s.
In these situations, there is no need to submit an application to the Department of Home Affairs, but women should notify the Department in writing of any changes to allow the Department to amend the Population Register.
Aside from the aforementioned exceptions, no major may alter their surname unless the Director-General of Home Affairs has given their consent appeared in the Government Gazette. Applications may be submitted at any Home Affairs office domestically or at any South African embassy, mission, or consulate overseas.
Applications must be made on a properly filled-out Form BI-196, and a good and acceptable justification for the change must be provided in writing.
How much does it cost in South Africa to change your name?
copy of a statutory declaration, court order, or, in the absence of these documents, an affidavit justifying the need for the forename change; a $12.00 (majors) or $6.00 (minors) administrative fee paid in cash or money order to the relevant South African representative office
