Home Affairs Taken to Court Over Late Birth Registration Backlog

The Children’s Institute, in partnership with the Legal Resources Centre, has initiated legal action against the Department of Home Affairs over what it describes as a severe and unconstitutional backlog in the processing of late birth registrations. Filed at the Western Cape High Court, the application demands that Home Affairs be compelled to address the crisis, which has left hundreds of thousands of South African citizens in legal limbo.

According to court documents, at least 250,000 individuals—many of them children—have been waiting up to seven years for their late birth registration applications to be processed. The Children’s Institute argues that this is a conservative estimate and that the systemic delays by Home Affairs are denying children and their caregivers access to basic constitutional rights.

The Children’s Institute says the backlog at Home Affairs has had devastating real-world consequences for the affected families. Several affidavits submitted to the court tell heartbreaking stories of children who, due to their lack of birth certificates, are denied access to education, healthcare, and social grants—rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

One mother shared how she spent her entire childhood without a birth certificate and now faces the same bureaucratic nightmare for her 15-year-old son. Despite submitting his application when he was eight, the boy still does not have a birth certificate. A passionate soccer player, he can no longer participate in tournaments and recently encountered legal trouble due to his undocumented status.

Another case involves a 13-year-old girl who was expelled from school twice because she lacked a birth certificate. Though eventually accepted into a school far from home, the girl felt socially isolated and stigmatized. These are just two of many cases showing how Home Affairs’ inefficiencies are pushing vulnerable individuals to the fringes of society.

Legal Demands: Court Orders for Home Affairs

The court application argues that the Department of Home Affairs must be held accountable for the current backlog and that the delay constitutes a violation of constitutional rights. The Children’s Institute is calling for a clear, time-bound, and transparent plan from Home Affairs to:

• Eliminate the existing backlog
• Improve the late birth registration process
• Prevent future backlogs

Legal researcher Mbonisi Nyathi, in an affidavit, emphasized that Home Affairs’ failure to act has not only denied individuals access to services but has also perpetuated an intergenerational cycle of statelessness.

Since the court application was filed, Home Affairs has begun processing the applications of the 15 caregivers specifically involved in the case. However, according to senior researcher Paula Proudlock, this reaction came only after becoming aware of the litigation in May 2025.

While 10 of the 15 applicants have since been issued birth certificates, the interview process was reportedly coercive. Mothers were allegedly pressured to admit negligence to expedite the application, despite complying with all legal requirements under the Births and Deaths Registration Act.

Proudlock pointed out that most caregivers had submitted all necessary documentation years ago and followed up numerous times—often at great financial and emotional cost—only to be sent away and told to “wait for a call.”

Nyathi’s affidavit outlines multiple systemic issues within Home Affairs that have contributed to the backlog:

• Manual paper-based systems that make applications “invisible” to the national office
• Lack of inter-provincial coordination
• Unnecessary interviews, not mandated by law, that delay processing
• Failure to formally acknowledge the late registration backlog as a national crisis

These factors have created a deeply flawed and inaccessible system for late birth registrations, particularly harming young mothers and children in rural or impoverished areas.

The application insists that while it is policy for births to be registered within 30 days, many legitimate circumstances prevent timely registration, such as:

• Home births in remote areas
• Cultural practices requiring postpartum confinement
• Mothers without their own IDs due to systemic failures

Without documentation, these individuals remain outside the formal economy and social safety nets. They cannot attend school, apply for jobs, access grants, or vote. According to Nyathi, this is a direct violation of the rights to dignity, equality, and access to education.

The legal challenge has now put Home Affairs, including the Minister and Director-General, on notice. They have 30 days to file opposing affidavits in the case. The outcome could have far-reaching implications, not just for the 15 named applicants, but for hundreds of thousands of undocumented individuals across the country.

If successful, the application could compel Home Affairs to overhaul its late birth registration processes—marking a significant step toward safeguarding the rights of South Africa’s most vulnerable.

Source- EWN