Birth Registration

The new  Civil Registration and Identification Act has been published at the end of 2024, but not come into force yet. Here is what we are looking at read in the Observer as per executive director of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security, Etienne Maritz.

This is another topic which is governed by an outdated law which has already been overtaken by practice.

• • • The current law is described in several publications produced by GR&AP:
      • a comic on birth registration (in English, Afrikaans and Oshiwambo),
      • a booklet on birth registration (in English, Afrikaans, Oshiwambo and Rukwangali)
      • a booklet on how to change the surname of a child (in English, Afrikaans, Oshiwambo and Rukwangali).
    • During 2017-2019, GR&AP has worked closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration on a bill based on an extensive public consultation process about the proposed law reforms. A series of factsheets presents some of the options for law reform which were discussed during this process.

  As of mid-2020, the proposed new Civil Registration and Identification Bill was still under discussion by Government.
  Further information may be found in Namlex and Births, Marriages and Deaths.