Registration of births looked at

THE GRAHAMSTOWN High Court this week reserved its verdict in an application regarding the registration of the births of children born to unmarried fathers.

The Births and Deaths Registration Act does not make provision for unmarried fathers – caring for their children as single parents – to register the children’s births without the mother being present.

The application concerns an application brought by the Centre for Child Law, represented by Lawyers for Human Rights.

The matter was initially heard in 2018, when Regulation 12 of the Act was declared unconstitutional. This stated that an application for the birth certificate of a child born to unmarried parents can only be made by the mother of the child.

Section 10 does not at this point make provision for children to receive their father’s surname or details of their father on their birth certificate without the mother’s involvement.

The centre said without declaring Section 10 also invalid, unmarried fathers remained unable to register the birth of their child without the mother being present.

The centre and Lawyers for Human Rights have hundreds of clients who cannot register the birth of their children because of this barrier.

Anjuli Maistry, an attorney at the centre, said the inability to register a child’s birth not only infringes on the rights of children to have a name and a nationality, but it also prevents these children from accessing other rights, such as social services, healthcare and education.

The application was prompted by the plight of a 2-year-old whose father is a South African citizen and her mother a Congolese citizen.

The mother does not have documentation permitting her to reside in South Africa.

Shortly after the child’s birth her parents tried to register her birth, but Home Affairs refused as the mother does not have a passport or valid visa.

The father was also not able to register the child in light of the act’s provisions and because the mother’s visa had expired.

The court was told that there were many children in this position because Home Affairs refused to register them as their mothers were undocumented.