Good morning I looked up my mother's birth records at the Cape Archives (you need to know where and more or less when they were born otherwise it will take an age!). There is a registration number in the handwritten record books, I believe that is the number that is used to apply for the birth certificate. According to what I understood, if the birth was more than 100 years ago, the Archives could show you a copy otherwise you would have to apply to Home Affairs using the registration number. As my mother was born in 1923, I could only see the register and was not permitted to see the actual detailed record so I can't say whether this would be exactly the same as a birth certificate. I suppose all the above only applies to births 1895 and after. Before that, the church records may be the only source of information about a birth. Antoinette -----Original Message----- From: Brian Benningfield [mailto:aurora@netactive.co.za] Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 7:27 PM To: south-africa-eastern-cape@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [ZA-EC] DIVORCE RECORDS Didn't our recently departed minister of home affairs say "please don't mess up (my) home affairs department" before she left? LOL I applied for a copy of my grandfather's BC in 2008 - paid my R50; followed up several times; went to see them at tgheir offices in Bellville , Cape Town..stood in a queue for hours, and have yet to receive a response from them! Many people must be having the same problem we have ie no ID for our grandparents - it would be very useful if someone could offer a suggestion as to how one could go about finding an ID number. In my case my grandfather was born in 1892 and none of his D/N; 2 x marriage certificates and a service certificate shows his ID number. Brian Benningfield