Statement: High Court orders Department of Home Affairs to stop blocking the birth registration or ID of any child whose parent’s ID has been unlawfully blocked or is under investigation

17 Jan 2024
Front of South African ID card
17 Jan 2024

17 January 2024
Joint press statement: High Court orders Department of Home Affairs to stop blocking the birth registration or ID of any child whose parent’s ID has been unlawfully blocked or is under investigation 

The Children’s Institute (CI) at the University of Cape Town, and the Centre for Child Law (CCL), have secured vital victories for children’s rights in the Pretoria High Court case against the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). 

The case was brought to court by Ms Phindile Mazibuko, who was then joined by Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Wise, representing the many other people affected by “ID blocking”. 

The CI, represented by CCL, joined the case as a friend of the court, to highlight how the blocking of a parent’s ID negatively affects their child’s rights to birth registration, identity and nationality, and to ensure that all affected children would also obtain relief from the court.

The court judgment, handed down on Tuesday 16 January, orders the DHA to:

  • Stop blocking people’s IDs (adults and children) without following a fair procedure as required by the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA). This means the DHA must first give people notice in writing that a problem has been found with their ID, allow people reasonable time and opportunity to present their side of the story to the DHA, conduct a proper investigation and then provide the affected person with written reasons as to why their ID is going to be blocked. DHA must then obtain a court order before they may block the person’s ID. 
  • Immediately remove blocks from all minor children's IDs, where their parents’ statuses are being investigated but have not been finalised and revoked. In future, a child’s ID may only be blocked where a court order has been obtained.
  • Stop refusing to allow parents to register their child’s birth because a parent’s ID has been marked and is under investigation. 

Read the full statement here.