Zululanders are urged to register children’s birth within 30 days or face the consequences
Registering a child's birth is essential for the child to gain an education and to be able to later support themselves
FOR most parents, providing their children with the best possible start in life is a given.
But for many parents in rural Zululand, who perhaps do not have access to all government facilities and information, the allegedly commonplace act of foregoing registration of their children’s birth has life-altering implications.
It has become apparent that those mothers who do not have their own identity documents simply use one belonging to a relative, in order to register their child.
The issue with this is that there is no proof the child belongs to its biological mother.
Those mothers who forego the registration of their child’s birth will later not be able to enrol their child at school, effectively denying the child an education.
Consequently, it is virtually impossible for an uneducated person to gain employment and impossible to apply for a government grant, thereby perpetuating the poverty cycle and potentially leading to a life of crime.
To put an end to this, local departments of Home Affairs have held numerous workshops throughout the region to educate people on registration of births and to ensure everybody complies with the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, which stipulates all children must be registered within 30 days of birth.
Mothers are urged to apply for their own ID books prior to having children, thereby easing the registration process of their child.
Moreover, when a child’s birth is registered, the ID books of both parents must be presented.
For the many single-parent households, leaving registration of a child’s birth until the child is set to begin school simply is not an option.
If both parents’ ID books cannot be presented to the Department of Home Affairs, the department must issue a public notice to trace the absent parent.
If the absent parent cannot be traced and a death certificate cannot be provided, the child cannot be registered.
In the case of a deceased parent, the death certificate must be presented so the child can be registered.
Parents are also urged to take note that children must be registered at the place of their birth.
If a child is born at Ngwelezana Hospital, it must be registered at Ngwelezana Home Affairs.
When it comes to the late registration of births, the hospital or clinic at which the child was born must supply an affidavit confirming the child’s birth.
For those children born at home, a certificate of baptism issued by the local pastor will suffice.
To combat the scourge of unemployment stemming from poor education, all parents are urged to take heed of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act and register their children’s births as soon as the child is born.
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