Department of Home Affairs
The department of home affairs has clarified the status of amendments to the Births and Deaths Registration Act and the Immigration Act.
Amendments to Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 were assented into law on 9 December 2010 but have yet to be allocated an implementation date.
According to a media statement, the department has since been finalising the regulations concerned and is “now ready to implement the amendments”, focusing on the following:
• the registration of children by persons other than the biological parent/s;
• the registration of orphans and abandoned children;
• simplifying the process of changing the surnames of children and adults;
• paternity-related issues;
• the late registration of a birth beyond 30 days of its occurrence;
• the registration of adopted children, in keeping with the requirements of Children’s Act 38 of 2005; and
• registration requirements for the designation of funeral undertakers.
In addition, according to the statement, the regulations make provision for:
• security features, through the inclusion of the particulars of parents on birth certificates; and
• an increase in penalties for the fraudulent registration of births and deaths.
According to director general Mkuseli Apleni, amendments to Immigration Act 13 of 2002 still await promulgation into law by president Zuma. It is anticipated that this will take place during the current quarter. The Immigration Amendment Bill of 2010 completed the parliamentary process in June 2011.
The department is currently finalising the regulations concerned with a view, amongst other things, to establishing an appeals authority and appointing adjudication committees at each refugee centre.
The director general made these remarks during a recent media briefing.
According to comments made by home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma when presenting the bill to members of the National Assembly for a second reading, highlights of the bill include:
• changing the role of immigration practitioners whom, in terms of the amendments, may “continue to consult and provide advice to foreign nationals on immigration matters” but who may not represent foreign nationals applying for visas/permits;
• ensuring that foreign nationals apply in person for these documents;
• ensuring that a foreign national issued with a visitor and/or medical treatment visa returns to his/her country of origin before applying for a change in the status of the document concerned in order to remain in South Africa longer;
• changing the way in which asylum seekers are managed; and
• significantly reducing the number of days in which such people should report to the refugee reception office closest to their port of entry.
Sabinet Cape Town Office
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