The Department of Internal Affairs considers (under point 18) that receiving the physically certified copy of the identity document is best practice, however this is not explicitly required.

Your AML/CFT programme should include your internal procedures, policies and controls for CDD, and include your process for receiving certified documents. While you may choose to accept a scanned copy of a certified document (based on your process outlined in your AML/CFT programme), receiving the physically certified document may provide more assurance to you that it has not been tampered with or falsified prior to it being emailed to you.

Additionally, in some circumstances, if enhanced CDD is required, the level of risk may require additional steps to verify the information such as the original certified copies being received by the reporting entity.