A certificate is easy to forge. Checking one shouldn't be impossible.
B-BBEE affidavits, Electrical Certificates of Compliance and similar accredited certificates are issued by an accredited person, valid for a fixed period, and demanded constantly by someone with no way to check them. KuduDoc's Controlled Originals registry answers the questions a registry can: is this the file that was registered and is it unchanged since, who holds the original, is it still inside its validity period, and has it been superseded by a newer one? Whether the issuer was really accredited is not ours to answer — there is no register to check that against.
No credit card to start — Personal plan included.
The same shape, again and again
None of this needs new law. It needs a registry the parties agree to trust — which is exactly what KuduDoc already built for Controlled Originals.
Issued by an accredited person
A Commissioner of Oaths, a registered electrician, a registered assessor — someone whose standing is supposed to back the document.
Valid for a fixed period
Twelve months, two years, sometimes far shorter — and then it lapses, whether anyone notices or not.
Demanded by a third party who can't verify it
A procurement officer, a conveyancer, a new homeowner — taking the paper at face value, because there's rarely another option.
Forged at scale
Because nothing about a PDF or a paper copy proves who issued it, whether they were accredited, or whether it's still valid.
Where this is worst today
Both of these are real, documented problems in South Africa right now. Here's what a KuduDoc registry entry actually does for each.
SANAS-issued B-BBEE certificates can already be checked on the B-BBEE Commission's certificate portal. Sworn affidavits — used by the smaller entities that make up most tender bidders — can't be checked anywhere. An affidavit rests entirely on a Commissioner of Oaths' wet signature and a self-declared turnover figure. It's valid for 12 months, and after that it's the bidder's word that it still holds.
Affidavit — B-BBEE status (Exempted Micro-Enterprise)
I, the undersigned, being a director of Ndlovu Trading Enterprises (Pty) Ltd, do hereby make oath and state that the Entity's total annual turnover for the most recent financial year was under R10,000,000, and that the Entity accordingly qualifies as an Exempted Micro-Enterprise as defined in the B-BBEE Codes of Good Practice.
What KuduDoc's registry actually does
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Registers the already-sworn originalFingerprinted the moment it's uploaded — not re-sworn, not re-issued.
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Records exactly who currently holds itThe same control-and-transfer model KuduDoc uses for any Controlled Original.
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Enforces the 12-month expiry automaticallyFlagged the moment it lapses, not whenever someone happens to check.
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Gives a procurement officer a free verification linkTo confirm the affidavit on file is the one registered, unchanged since, and still inside its 12 months.
KuduDoc doesn't replace the Commissioner of Oaths — the affidavit still has to be sworn in person, first.
An Electrical Certificate of Compliance is required by law on every property transfer in South Africa, issued by a "registered person" with the Department of Employment and Labour, and must be less than two years old at the time of transfer. There's no register of issued certificates anywhere — only registers of registered people, and even that isn't searchable. ECASA, the industry association, documents the exact fraud this creates: outsiders "buy a batch of CoCs" against a genuine contractor's registration number, issue them for electrical work nobody inspected, take payment, and disappear — leaving the legitimately registered electrician carrying the civil and criminal liability for work they never did.
Certificate of Compliance — Electrical Installation
Issued in terms of the Electrical Installation Regulations, 2009, under regulation 7(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993. I certify that the electrical installation at the address below has been inspected and tested, and complies with SANS 10142-1 as at the date of this certificate.
What KuduDoc's registry actually does
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Registers it against a real DoL registration numberTying the certificate to the registered person who's actually accountable for it.
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Records who currently holds the originalNot just a copy — the registry's record of control.
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Enforces the 2-year expiry automaticallySo an ageing certificate can't quietly outlive its usefulness.
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Gives a conveyancer or new owner a free verification linkInstead of trusting a PDF that could have come from anywhere.
KuduDoc doesn't inspect the wiring — the registered person still has to carry out the inspection and issue the certificate first.
This is registry-recorded exclusive control — not a negotiable instrument. KuduDoc doesn't swear the affidavit and doesn't inspect the wiring. It's a custody-and-verification registry: it records which file was registered and who holds it, fingerprints it so any later alteration is obvious, enforces the expiry date, and gives whoever's relying on it a free way to check.
The swearing and the inspection still have to happen first, by the people actually accredited to do them. A registry entry proves the certificate hasn't changed since it was registered — not that it was honestly issued in the first place.
Also being evaluated
Two more categories fit the same pattern. Both are earlier-stage — not fully live features yet.
COIDA Letters of Good Standing
Required for tenders and site access, tied to an annual cycle — and as short as one month for employers on a payment plan, which makes expiry genuinely hard to track by hand. Government already issues these through its own portal, so the fit for KuduDoc looks like third-party real-time verification for tender assessors, not issuing the letter itself.
Non-SAFEX grain storage receipts
The regulated tier is already solved — the JSE accepts only electronic receipts from registered storage operators at hundreds of delivery points. South Africa has no Warehouse Receipts Act currently in force, so nothing statutory stands in the way of a private registry for the smaller, informal storage operators outside that system, where receipts get used as collateral with far less discipline.
A certificate only means something if someone can check it.
Personal plan available · South Africa · POPIA-minded
Also see: Real estate leases · Employment contracts · Suretyships