The short answer
You can apply for a birth certificate in a late registration of birth application.
The whole question
I
was born in South Africa and both my parents are Malawians. I was
raised by my mother as a single parent. My mother passed away in 2014.
When I was in Grade 11, we went to apply for my ID at Home Affairs but
we didn't succeed. My birth certificate was not found on the system. I
wasn't told the way forward or what they recommend me to do. However, I
was told to go back to my home country. I was confused because I haven't
been in Malawi before. What can I do?
The long answer
As you were
born in South Africa to Malawian parents, in terms of the amended
Citizenship Act, you can apply for South African citizenship when you
are eighteen if you have not lived anywhere else but South Africa, and
if your birth has been registered under the Births and Deaths
Registration Act of 1992.
The problem here is that if your birth
certificate was not found in the system, Home Affairs will say that you
were not registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act and
therefore you are not eligible to apply for citizenship.
So where to
begin? You can apply for a birth certificate in late registration of
birth. It is a long and difficult process, especially as your mother was
a single parent and has passed away. Your mother’s friend, whom you
live with, would have to stand in, and you would also need to provide
the following documents:
• Application for an ID
• Completed Forms for the registration of birth
•
Supporting documentation like proof of birth, clinic card etc, as well
as written reasons why the birth was not registered within 30 days of
birth.
• Fingerprints of parents or adoptive parents
• Your biometrics
• Certified copies of parents’ IDs, or asylum permit etc.
• Death certificate of your mother
• Certified copy of ID of next of kin
• You must be a South African citizen or permanent residence permit holder, with a valid South African ID.
Even though you can’t produce all these documents, and neither of your parents can be there