Zuko Komisa
A staggering backlog in late birth registrations has left at least a quarter of a million South Africans in limbo, according to a conservative estimate by the Children’s Institute.
The organisation has filed an urgent application with the Western Cape High Court, seeking to compel the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to address the crisis.
The Children’s Institute, represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), argues that the DHA’s sluggish approach to processing these applications is a direct violation of the fundamental rights of children, parents, and caregivers.
They are asking the court to declare the department’s inaction unconstitutional.
The Children’s Institute emphasises that their estimate of 250 000 affected individuals is likely an underestimation, suggesting the true scale of the problem could be even larger.
Cecile van Schalkwyk, Senior Attorney at the Legal Resources Centre, in an interview with spoke to Point of View with Phemelo Motene about the crisis.
Listen to the full conversation here:
According to Schalkwyk the court application highlights the dire consequences of the backlog, which has left countless individuals, many of them children, without official recognition of their existence.
This lack of documentation can prevent them from enrolling in school, receiving medical treatment, or even proving their nationality.
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