Certification of electronically generated documents

Do you need certified proof of residence that was generated from a system or e – mailed to you?

These days most service providers deliver electronic invoices and statements via e-mail or system access where the invoice is
downloaded. Can a commissioner of oath then certify that the printout provided to them is a true copy of the original?

Section 14 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of
2002 (“ECT Act”) stipulates the following:

“ 14. (1) Where a law requires information to be presented or retained in its original 25 form, that requirement is met by a data message if- (a) the integrity of the information from the time when it was first generated in its final form as a data message or otherwise has passed the assessment in terms of subsection (2); and (b) that information is capable of being displayed or produced to the person to 30 whom it is to be presented.” The aforesaid means that should a person require for a document to be certified, where the copy is generated from an online service or an e-mail or portal or app or, then the person must log onto the app or portal in the presence of the commissioner of oath and request or download the electronic original.
This means that a commissioner of oath can certify the hard copy to be a “true hard copy of the electronic original”. The commissioner must satisfy himself/herself that the electronic original was generated or sent or provided by the institution that supposedly created the said document.