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This country’s legal measures were reviewed by our legal staff in consultation with in-country lawyers and/or CRVS legal experts. All efforts were made to ensure the accuracy of the legal analysis, however, if you consider there to be any discrepancies or if there have been changes in the law of the country since our staff last updated the legal analysis, we welcome any additional information or insights. Please contact us via this form.
Cause of Death
South Africa
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South Africa
Cause of Death
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
Transmission of Cause of Death Data
For a death that occurred under medical supervision (and not referred to MLDI), does the law specify how the information on cause of death is transmitted to the civil registrar and/or the statistics agency?
Transmission through family
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The medical certificate of cause of death should be transmitted to the civil registrar or the statistics agencies to be used for legal and statistical purposes. In some countries, the information in the medical certificate of cause of death (or information on cause of death) is submitted to the registrar directly, who in turn submits the MCCD or cause of death data to the statistics agency. Other countries use a bifurcated form, containing a section for legal information and a section for statistical (cause of death) information. With this type of form, the legal information is submitted to the registrar and the statistical (cause of death) information is submitted directly to the statistics agency. The MCCD should not be given to the family to bring to the civil registration agency, the family may fail to report to the civil registrar.
If the law obligates the certifier of cause of death to directly transmit an MCCD to the civil registrar and statistics agency, there are two policy objectives that are met.
First, the efficient transmission of information provides the necessary information, including cause of death, to the civil registrar and statistics agency without placing an additional burden on an intermediary, often a mourning family, to convey the medical certificate of cause of death to the registrar.
Second, certifiers of cause of death are less likely to modify sensitive cause of death information if fewer people have access to and knowledge of that potentially sensitive information.
The MCCD is transmitted to the statistic agency through the civil registrar. The medical practitioner completes Form DHA-1663 and issues the original form to the informant or funeral undertaker free of charge. The medical practition seals Section G of the Form DHA-1163 (the medical certificate of cause of death) by folding over an blank sheet; this ensures that the informant and registrar are unable to read it. The informant then submits the completed form to the local DHA office as part of the death notification. The local DHA office submits the form to the national level DHA, which in turns submits it to Stats South Africa. Section G is only unsealed once it reaches Stat South Africa.
For a death referred to the MLDI system, does the law specify how cause of death information is transmitted to the civil registrar and/or statistics agency?
Yes for transmission of information to statistics agency
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The law should designate who is responsible for submitting the MCCD or cause of death data to the civil registration authority and/or the national statistics agency in cases of deaths investigated by the MLDI system. Responsibility may be place on the forensic physician that certified the cause of death or an official within the MLDI system, such as the coroner, medical examiner, or police officer. In some countries, this person will submit the MCCD or cause of death information to the civil registration agency, which in turn will submit COD data to the national statistics agency. In other countries, this person will submit the MCCD or cause of death data directly to the national statistics agency. The MCCD should not be given to the family as a means of transmission.
For unnatural deaths, after investigation the medical practitioner issues a prescribed certificate (form DHA-1663) and delivers it to the police officer, with Section G (the MCCD section) sealed. The police officer, acting as the information, reports the death to the DHA office / registrar. he local DHA office submits the form to the national level DHA, which in turns submits it to Stats South Africa. Section G is only unsealed once it reaches Stats South Africa.
For cause of death determined from verbal autopsy, does the law specify how and to whom is the cause of death information is transmitted?
No
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Verbal autopsies should only be used for statistical purposes and never legal purposes. Therefore, cause of death determined by the use of a verbal autopsy should only be transmitted to the statistics agency (anonymized). Results of a verbal autopsy should not be transmitted to a civil registrar for legal use.
