Durban – Minister of Home Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, supported by Premier Dr Zweli Mkhize, will on Friday, 4 March 2011 launch the KwaZulu-Natal Stakeholder Forum and National Population Register (NPR) campaign in the Ingwe Local Municipality, Donnybrook, KwaZulu-Natal. The NPR campaign was launched nationally in March 2010 by President Jacob Zuma and Minister Dlamini Zuma.
Stakeholder fora have been established throughout the country with a view to providing citizens of South Africa with direct access to the processes of government, giving expression to the commitment of government that “the people shall govern”.
The department is also available to intervene directly when offices perform badly or reports of poor service delivery are received.
Through the NPR campaign, parents are encouraged to register their babies within 30 days of birth to, amongst others, facilitate access to social services provided by government. The Department will also be able to issue IDs to those who turn 16 years old.
In the long term, the successful implementation of the NPR will ensure there is only one point of entry into the population register, at birth. Ultimately this will ensure the credibility, integrity and security of the country’s population register.
Achievements since the launch of the NPR Since the launch of the NPR, the department has observed improvements in terms the registration of newborns as well as ID applications and a significant decrease in the number of IDs being reissued.
With a view to assisting parents to register their babies within 30 days of birth, the department has, at January 2011, linked 327 health facilities nationwide to its database.
Parents are therefore able to register their babies and receive birth certificates before they leave the hospital.
With the assistance of countrywide Stakeholder Fora, a total of 899 618 births were registered from April 2010 - January 2011, 793 567 of which were registered within a year (88%). This exceeded the target of 70% we had set for the registration of babies within one year of birth. The registration of births within 30 days stands at 52% (412 655) of 793 567 registered within a year.
The total number of Late Registration of Birth (LRB) applications processed for the period April 2010 - January 2011 amounts to 161 562 compared to 109 898 for 2009/10. This represents an increase of 47%.
The total number of first issue applications increased from 834 353 between April 2009 – January 2010 to 1 094 308 in 2010/11. The total number of re-issue applications received from April – January 2010/11 is 1 193 159 compared to the same period in 2009/10 of 1 520 176 which represents a decline of 22% in the number of applications received.
