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Not enough home affairs staff to deal with birth registration

Source: Valeska Abreu – The Citizen, 10/09/2015


Concerns about the lack of capacity to service hospitals and register
births of children within 30 days in some parts of the country have
been raised by the portfolio committee on home affairs.


This contradicts praise for the department by Statistician-General
Pali Lehohla last week when he released the annual statistics on
recorded live births. A total of 1 161 159 births were registered
with the department in 2014, said Lehohla.


The home affairs portfolio committee was worried about birth
registration in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng and Limpopo.
"While the committee acknowledges it is untenable to have a person at
every hospital, it notes it is worrying that only eight people can
service up to 46 hospitals in Limpopo," the committee said in a
statement.


It added it observed "asimilar trend in other provinces". The
committee called on the department to find workable solutions to deal
with the challenge. "The committee is of the view that strengthening
of this service is the only pillar that will ensure the department
achieves the goal of ensuring that the entry into the population
register is only through registration of births," said the statement.



It also noted concerns about occupational space for department
officials, saying this had a negative impact on service delivery. "The
committee calls for ministerial interventions by both the minister of
home affairs and minister of public works to ensure that this
long-standing challenge is solved."


The committee, however, applauded the department for its speedy
rollout of new smart ID cards.


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