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S. Africa denies introducing compulsory DNA test for new births registration

Xinhua, September 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The South African government on Wednesday denied claims that it has introduced compulsory DNA testing requirements for registration of new births.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) said it has noted a hoax article in the social media purported to emanate from an interview with Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba about the introduction of compulsory DNA testing requirements for registration of new births.

"We wish to categorically state that no such interview was ever conducted by the minister with what appears to be a fake website," DHA spokesperson Thabo Mokgola said.

He said the department will utilise official communication platforms to create awareness around any changes in policy should there be such pronouncements, including those made by the DHA.

"To provide clarity on the matter, in 2014, we announced new Births and Deaths Regulations. In cases of children born out of wedlock, we have been aware of cases where single mothers get involved in relationships with non-South African men and approach Home Affairs offices to record these persons as fathers of their children even if they are not the biological fathers," the spokesperson said in a statement.

This is then used by such persons to address the DHA for permanent residence status in the country due to the right that children have to be cared for by their parents, he said.

To this end, and where such a circumstance arises, the DHA now requires the results of paternity tests, and this is applicable to non-South Africans, Mokgola said.

Similarly, where there is an application by a third party to substitute his particulars as the father of a child and to effectively remove the recorded father's name in the birth certificate, the regulations now provide that a paternity test must be submitted by the applicant, according to Mokgola.

Mokgola added that in instances where the parents of a child born out of wedlock are both recorded in the system but their status is unmarried, and if they wish to change their marital status on the child's profile, the law provides that this may be done without a requirement of a paternity test. Endit