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Home Affairs dragged to court over late birth registration backlog

Tens of thousands of children live without legal recognition or access to grants, health care and education

Nozibele Dada, 62, has spent more than a decade trying to get a birth certificate for her grandson, Qhamani. Her story was one of several cases cited in evidence to argue that Home Affairs’ delays in processing birth registration applications are systemic and unconstitutional. Photo: Marecia Damons

The Children’s Institute and Legal Resources Centre want the Western Cape High Court to order Home Affairs to develop and implement a plan to clear its birth registration backlog.
Evidence before the court included cases of children waiting up to seven years for decisions on birth registration applications.
The organisations say at least 33,000 people are in this predicament.
Home Affairs says the backlog is not systemic but unavoidable, and late birth registrations…

Read More: Home Affairs dragged to court over late birth registration backlog.

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