Birth, death registration on farms set to become easier

Naledi Pandor (Image: GCIS)

Speaking at an Agri-SA conference in Pretoria on Thursday (10 October), Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor emphasised the importance of registering births and deaths.

"Without civil registration, we in government won't be able to design adequate public services or to pursue adequate policies of social inclusion," she said.

"Civil registration of births is an important component of building the National Population Register and we have been on the campaign path for a good many years now," she said.

The Department of Home Affairs recently launched the National Population Register campaign aimed at registering the majority of South African children.

The department no longer issues abridged birth certificates, as part of the drive to secure the integrity of South Africa's National Population Register, and to eradicate identity book theft and fraudulent birth registrations.

According to the 2013 mid-term population estimates, there were 1 095 669 births in 2012.

Pandor said 1 039 862 identity documents were issued to first time applicants.