SOUTH AFRICA COUNTRY SUMMARY ON BIRTH REGISTRATION

Transcription

1 SOUTH AFRICA COUNTRY SUMMARY ON BIRTH REGISTRATION Prepared for the Eastern and Southern Africa Conference on Universal Birth Registration Mombassa, Kenya, September 2005 Introduction In South Africa, the Department of Home Affairs is responsible for the registration of births. Home Affairs is a national department with two main core functions, namely Civic Services and Immigration. A breakdown of these two core functions is provided below: Civic Services Maintaining the National Population Register Management of records Citizenship Travel documents and passports Identity documents (including birth certificates) Identification Immigration Admissions Inspectorate Refugee Affairs Information co-ordination Policy directives Counter-xenophobia The Vision of the Department is Rendering a world class service and its mission to commit itself as required by stipulated mandates to determine and confirm status of persons by providing enabling documents in the interest of promoting and protecting the national integrity. As will be noted from the Mission Statement, providing enabling documents is a specific objective. In the context of birth registrations this refers to the issuing of birth certificates. As an organisation with diverse mandates and functions, the department s mission is carried out by a number of organisational units, provincial offices and foreign missions. Core civic services are delivered through a network of 33 regional offices; 105 district offices; 81 permanent service points; 10 state of the art mobile units, several ordinary mobile units and 69 on-line

2 registration points situated in health facilities. Strategic partnerships for different processes of birth registration include government departments including health, social development, education, justice, provincial and local government (including traditional leadership), South Africa police services and Statistics South Africa. The government also has bilateral and multilateral consultation with and support from international bodies such as UNICEF. Legislative Framework for Birth Registration In terms of Section 28 of the South African Constitution a child has a right to a name and nationality from birth. The legislative mandate for the notification and registration of births is contained in the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1992 (Act No. 51 of 1992), hereinafter referred to as the Act. The Administration of the Act is vested in the Director- General: Home Affairs who, in terms of the Act, is also the custodian of all birth records in South Africa. The Director-General may delegate any duty assigned to him or her under the Act. In this regard the registration of the births of children born in South Africa is delegated to the Department s domestic offices spread throughout the country. In the case of South Africans born outside South Africa, the registration of their births is delegated to the Department s Head Office. At registration of birth of a child a 13-digit electronically generated identity number is allocated to the child. This number remains with the person throughout his or her life and can only change if the person s date of birth, gender or status is changed in accordance with the provisions of the Act. In terms of the Act, a birth must be reported to the Department by the parents or guardian within 30 days from the child s date of birth. If the parents or guardian is unable to report the birth, the Act allows them to request a third person to do so on their behalf. There are different levels of late registration: i) after 30 days, but before one year, ii) after one year but less than 15 years, and iii) birth notified after 15 years. The longer the delay of registration after birth the higher the requirements of documentary proof of parentage, place of birth and age. Birth registration services are offered free of charge. In South Africa, registration of birth is not only a realization of a constitutional right to an identity, but facilitates access to other children's rights including a package of social grants. Context of Birth Registration 2

3 In South Africa there is a trend of late registration of births posing particular challenges to the Department and the country. There are various reasons for this phenomenon. Because of apartheid policies, the vast majority of our people were left out of the mainstream of citizenry. Many actively sought to remain unregistered. Many lived too far from registration centres where they could be registered. And the details of many were recorded incorrectly into the system. In order to accommodate these realities, the Department had to allow for late registration of births, for the amendments of date of birth, names and other details on the national population register. These interventions are unfortunately exploited by non-citizens to acquire citizenship fraudulently, or citizens entitle themselves to benefits they are not entitled to. In light of the above factors, the business plan for the civic services branch of the Department of Home Affairs acknowledges that the business processes of the Department are outdated and need urgent revision. The turnaround interventions being implemented by the Department, especially the information technology strategy will play a key part in improving the services to citizens. The turnaround strategy aims to address critical infrastructure, people and technology deficiencies of the department and is expected to result in total modernisation of business processes for the provision of civic and immigration management. Strategic Approach towards Universal Birth Registration The Department of Home Affairs Strategic Plan 2005/6 2009/10 outlines the following strategic goals for the civic services branch for implementation in the next five years: 1. Capacity a. To capacitated and increase civic services efficiency (includes establishing posts for new initiatives) b. To ensure the competence and skills of staff to render efficient and effective civic services 2. Citizenship registration campaign a. To ensure that all citizens are correctly registered. b. To provide enabling documents to all citizens for the upcoming local government elections c. To introduce the electronic registration of all citizens d. To reduce unclaimed IDs or certificates at frontline offices and head office 3. Promoting national security and protecting the rights of the citizenry a. To stop the phenomenon of fraudulent marriages by non-south Africa who falsely obtain permanent residence 3

4 4 or citizenship and to protect South Africans against unscrupulous fraudulent activities b. Safeguarding the rights of women and protecting them from dangers emanating from the different marriage systems applicable in SA as well as safeguarding under aged girls from possible abuses inherent to the system of customary marriages c. To curb the fraudulent practice of birth and death registrations 4. Enhancing service efficiency a. To enhance the proficiency of the National Population Register b. To eliminate allocation of duplicate identity numbers by introducing a new system of unique identity numbers c. To review and digitize administrative registration processes d. To strengthen the tracking of applications in the registration system 5. Policy Review a. To review complete civic services legislation b. To clarify the role of custodians of data records such as the Independent Electoral Commission and Statistics South Africa. Progress made towards Universal Birth Registration The Department has commissioned a Citizen Registration Survey to investigate the public s needs regarding Home Affairs Services and underlying trends. The research report has been compiled and the findings will soon be presented to the Department. Through this research, among others, areas of non-registration will be identified. The department has implemented a flexi-hour system, which has made it possible for all regional/district offices to open on Saturdays and to have extended hours of service during the week. In an attempt to address some of infrastructure problems, 10 of 67 state of the art mobile units fully equipped with computers and satellite connectivity have been deployed in the rural areas of our country. The first ten mobile units were deployed in Eastern Cape (3), Limpopo (3), KwaZulu-Natal (3) and Western Cape (1). There are fifty seven mobile units that have been ordered and these will be delivered soon. These mobile units will be deployed in the nine provinces. Standard equipment installed in the units includes two computers, a generator for power supply, a satellite dish mounted on top of the truck and a mainframe terminal for connectivity to the national population register, photocopier, printer and a camera for

5 5 photographs. Each mobile unit requires 5 staff members to do the following: 1 for fingerprint taking and driving; 1 for queue management, filling of applications and cash collection; 2 for receiving applications, data capturing and issuing certificates; and 1 for overall supervision, verifications, liaison with stakeholders. A Child on-line Registration campaign at hospitals is being implemented in partnership with the Department of Health. A total of 69 hospitals have been supplied with computers and connected to the national register to make it easier for newly born children to be registered immediately after their birth. These facilities are also utilized to register death notices. This registration of children immediately after birth in public and private hospitals will be progressively rolled out to all hospitals subject to availability of funds. Other interventions are listed below: Community-based registration campaigns Initiatives to improve overall service standards at registration points Providing mechanisms for public feedback to service delivery from the general population at service points Comprehensive and up-to-date communication booklet on birth registration Community-based registration campaigns, dialogues and consultation with communities (imbizo). Challenges and Lessons Learned The Department of Home Affairs is a service delivery department with services being accessed through the frontline offices. There are a number of shining examples of improved service delivery in many centres around the country. However, reality of understaffing; poor office location, some offices in poor state of repair and sometimes inadequately equipped - means that the department is not always in a position to meet the requirements of Batho Pele - the people first to the full extent. Other barriers to birth registration are listed below: Ignorance of the importance of birth registration results in failure to claim the right to an identity. Lack of information and mobilization for children and youth to claim their right to citizenship. Multisectoral collaboration for service delivery can still be improved. Late registration sometimes leading to illegal immigrants getting identification documents fraudulently Some parents do not have ID documents to register their children, partially due to access issues, lack of knowledge, and illegal status in the country Tribal customs relating to the naming of children also delay registration Computerization of offices

6 6 Concluding Remarks The Department of Home Affairs and its strategic partners continue to strive for increased accessibility of registration points including fixed offices, participation in multi purpose community centres and mobile offices. The comprehensive strategic plan, the strength of partnerships formed for birth registration and unquestionable political commitment to implement the strategic plan provides assurance that South Africa is well on her way to achieve universal birth registration.