Court rules Home Affairs must register births of undocumented parents.
Undocumented parents won a legal battle after the Western Cape High Court ruled that the Department of Home Affairs acted unlawfully by refusing to register the births of children solely because one or both parents lacked valid immigration documents.
The court declared several birth registration regulations unconstitutional, ordered Home Affairs to register affected children and issue birth certificates, and extended legal protection to adults whose births were never registered after they were abandoned or orphaned as children.
The judgment, delivered on Tuesday, 29 July 2026, by a full bench comprising Judge President Francis, with Judges Cloete and Mapoma concurring, found that the Department of Home Affairs had unlawfully refused to accept or process birth registration applications where parents were unable to produce valid passports, visas or permits.
The judges held that these practices, together with several provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Regulations, violated constitutional rights and denied many children and vulnerable adults' legal recognition.
