Cape Town – The Department of Home Affairs has scrapped having two versions of the birth certificate, an abridged (issued for new-borns up until 2013) and an unabridged birth certificate detailing both parents details (issued to all new-borns since 2014).
From Tuesday, 1 November, newborns in South Africa will be issued only a single document stating both their maternal and paternal birth details.
The document will be known as only a ‘birth certificate’, as opposed the the previous ‘unabridged’ or ‘abridged birth certificate’ options.
In essence, however, it remains an unabridged birth certificate, the term as well as the abridged version (with only the maternal details) is now being done away with.
The way forward
For South Africans travelling with minor children, the complete birth certificate detailing both paternal and maternal information will still be the document needed at customs to ensure smooth transit operations.
Children born after 14 March 2013 were issued with a valid unabridged birth certificate automatically. This means their birth certificates will be valid as is.
Everyone born before that, and that are still under 18 (from 1998 to 14 March 2013), and those from countries who do not automatically issue unabridged certificates, must apply for the document well before their travel date.
Source
DHA streamlines birth certificates to ease minor travel
Cape Town – The Department of Home Affairs has scrapped having two versions of the birth certificate, an abridged (issued for new-borns up until 2013) and an unabridged birth certificate detailing both parents details (issued to all new-borns since 2014).
From Tuesday, 1 November, newborns in South Africa will be issued only a single document stating both their maternal and paternal birth details.
The document will be known as only a ‘birth certificate’, as opposed the the previous ‘unabridged’ or ‘abridged birth certificate’ options.
In essence, however, it remains an unabridged birth certificate, the term as well as the abridged version (with only the maternal details) is now being done away with.
The way forward
For South Africans travelling with minor children, the complete birth certificate detailing both paternal and maternal information will still be the document needed at customs to ensure smooth transit operations.
Children born after 14 March 2013 were issued with a valid unabridged birth certificate automatically. This means their birth certificates will be valid as is.
Everyone born before that, and that are still under 18 (from 1998 to 14 March 2013), and those from countries who do not automatically issue unabridged certificates, must apply for the document well before their travel date.
Source
40% of ORTIA’s immigration counters unmanned at peak periods: Home Affairs
The Department of Home Affairs on Friday conceded that it does not have enough personnel to deal with the rise in the number of people arriving for processing at OR Tambo International Airport.
“Even with 100% staff attendance‚ not all the counters can be fully staffed. A 100% attendance is not attainable due to normal human resources factors‚” Apleni said.
“We are currently managing a four-shift system per week‚ reinforcing our day shift to deal with terminals experiencing a high volume of travellers. This translates into a situation where more than 40% of our immigration counters cannot be operational at peak periods‚ given limited staff capacity and the need to balance shift operations over a 24-hour cycle.”
Earlier this week‚ TMG Digital reported that incoming passengers’ experiences of three- to four-hour waits at undermanned biometric capturing system checkpoints at OR Tambo International Airport are earning South Africa a bad reputation overseas.
Comair CEO Erik Venter said the airlines in his stable are “constantly having to re-accommodate” international passengers who miss connecting flights.
South Africa: Police Arrest Chinese National for Bribing Home Affairs Official
The 48 year old Chinese national has been arrested for bribing the Department of Home Affairs official in Pretoria on Thursday.
The suspect allegedly approached the Home Affairs official and offered him R3 000 provided the official checks, processes and authorises the passport of his brother. The officer alerted the Pretoria Serious Corruption Unit of the Hawks and an operation was conducted swiftly.
The man was nabbed in the act of offering the bribe and subsequent investigations led the Hawks to the O.R Tambo International Airport where the suspect’s brother had already boarded the flight to Hong Kong.
The brothers will appear before the Kempton And Pretoria Magistrate’s Courts on Monday respectively, facing charges of bribery, fraud, possession of diamonds, possession of ivory and possession of abalone.
Source
Dad takes takes on Gigaba over baby’s citizenship
Johannesburg – An SANDF member has taken Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba to the high court after his department allegedly refused to register his eight-month-old daughter, born to a Congolese woman, as a South African national.
Menzile Lawrence Naki filed papers in the high court in Grahamstown on Tuesday in which he gave a detailed account of his troubles in registering his daughter, who was born in February. In court papers, Naki stated that his child was born at Settler’s Hospital in Grahamstown and her mother is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He said he met Dimitrila Marie Ndovya while he was deployed as a peacekeeper in Goma in 2008.
“We fell in love soon after we met and I later proposed to her. In 2008, we entered into a customary marriage in the DRC.