Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I thought that under South African law, you can change your gender if you are in hormones and live as a woman. now I'm not so sure and this extract is confusing me. maybe someone else can tell me?

here it is:

Changing gender
In terms of section 27(A) read with the provisions of the
Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act, 2003 (Act
No.49 of 2003).
Applications can be made by:
Persons who have undergone a sex change operation or
medical treatment resulting in their gender reassignment.  In
such cases two medical reports are required:
1. one by the medical practitioner who applied the procedure or
medical treatment or by a medical practitioner who has
experience in such procedures or treatments, and
2. a report by a second medical practitioner who has
independently examined the application to established his/
her gender.

I'm confused with "or medical treatment resulting in gender reassignment" since this could mean that you now live as a the desired gender after taking hormones

I think it's hard to tell from that. To me, it implies that medical treatments other than surgery are acceptable. However, without knowing specifics of South African laws and judicial traditions it's hard to be certain.

Here's what I found from Wikipedia:

"In 2003 Parliament enacted the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Act, which allows a transgender person who has undergone medical or surgical gender reassignment to apply to the Department of Home Affairs to have the sex description altered on their birth record. Once the birth record is altered they can be issued with a new birth certificate and identity document, and are considered "for all purposes" to be of the new sex.

The specific definition of gender reassignment in this Act refers to reassigning a person's sex by changing physiological or other sexual characteristics, and includes any part of such a process. Thus the transgender person is not required to have had genital surgery in order to have the sex description altered.

In 2013 it was reported, in response to a question in Parliament, that 95 people had legally changed their gender under the law. It was also reported that problems have been encountered by applicants because officials are not consistent in their interpretation of the medical requirements."

So it seems that SRS/GCS isn't necessary, however the wording is ambiguous. The best thing to do would be to call the bureau that handles this and ask them directly.

I would talk to your doctor. They would probably know as they may have done this for someone else already.

This could be wording for those who had SRS, and for those born Intersex, who may have had an operation but not SRS (like opening a hidden vagina.  Simple example).