South Africa: Cou­ple ask Home Affairs to reg­is­ter children’s birth

Published: 1/Apr/2016
Source: Legal Resources Centre (South Africa)

The Legal Resources Cen­tre (LRC) rep­re­sents a cou­ple who are ask­ing the Depart­ment of Home Affairs to reg­is­ter their two chil­dren and pro­vide them with the children’s birth cer­tifi­cates. The cou­ple approached the LRC after they were unable to reg­is­ter and obtain birth cer­tifi­cates from Home Affairs because the mother is an undoc­u­mented Swazi­land national. How­ever, the father is a South African national.

The cou­ple have been in a rela­tion­ship since 2007. The mother entered South Africa when she was 15 years old and she has been unable to obtain any doc­u­men­ta­tion legal­is­ing her stay.

Because the cou­ple have been unable to obtain the birth cer­tifi­cates for the chil­dren, the old­est child has been denied entry into school.

Link to LRC website.

Themes: Acquisition of nationality, Acquisition by children, Identity Documents, Birth Registration
Regions: South Africa
Year: 2016