How to change your name legally

MBOMBELA – Fortunately the Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA) 51 of 1992, read with the Identification Act 68 1997, provides for the rectification, amplification and amendment of the personal information of individuals as contained in the National Population Register of South Africa (NPR).

Amending your first name can be as easy as going to the Department of Home Affairs and completing a Form BI-85 in terms of Section 24 of BDRA

Tariffs vary for adult persons and for those who have not entered into a legal marriage or who have not been declared majors in terms of the Age of Majority Act.

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Altering the surname of a minor by duly completing a Form BI-193, in terms of Section 25 of the BDRA can be done when you have a good reason

• If a child is born out of wedlock and the mother marries a person other than the child’s biological father and wishes to change the child’s surname to that of her husband.
• If a mother, after her divorce from or the death of her husband, who must be the biological father of the child, wishes to change the child’s surname to her maiden surname or to another surname she assumed legally; or if she has remarried, to the surname of her new husband.
• If a child is born out of wedlock but registered under the biological father’s surname and the mother wishes to change the child’s surname to her maiden name.
• If a minor is under the care of a guardian and the guardian wishes to change the child’s surname to his or her surname.
• Other situations not mentioned above where a good and sufficient reason for the change exists.

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Be aware that the following requirements must be met first

• The natural father’s written consent, unless waived by a competent court, is a statutory requirement in the case where the child was born in wedlock.
• The mother’s husband, whose surname the child is to assume, must also give his written consent to the assumption.
• Both the natural parents’ written consent is required as well as a good and sufficient reason, in writing, for the change.

The following documents should be submitted together with the forms:

• Two passport photographs, in order to process a new identity document
• Your identity document with your current name and surname, which you will have to surrender.

An application to change your forename will cost you only R140 and it will probably save you a lot of personal embarrassment during your lifetime.

The only problem with this process is the waiting period for the change to be implemented. It can take three to four months, as the amendment has to be published in the Government Gazette.