The regulations to the BDRA indicate that the Director-General may appoint local and national screening committees to confirm the veracity of the information provided in terms of the LRB process and to make representations to the Minister, who will then accept or reject the application for registration (see regulation 6(4) and 6(5)). Hopefully, the formalisation of these committees61 will aid in resolving problem cases and improving the quality of interviews that take place during late registration of birth. The regulations require the Director-General to inform the parents in writing if a child’s application for LRB is rejected. The regulations refer only to South African citizens when addressing late registration of birth. It would seem, therefore that birth registration for children who are not South African citizens may not be accessed after 30 days. The BDRA determines that all children born in South Africa must be registered, not just South African citizens. LRB should be accessible for foreign children born in South Africa and cannot be limited to South African citizens. The heading of regulation 5 also refers to children born of South African citizens. It is unclear why this regulation should only apply to such children, as it excludes South African children who are not born South African parents.62 The BDRA provides for registration of children born both in and out of wedlock.63 However, confusion exists in implementing birth registration where a child was born out of wedlock and the mother is not available at the time of birth registration. These children often remain undocumented because the father is unable to register the child without the mother’s consent to acknowledgement of paternity. Where the BDRA and regulations used to make provision for the registration of a child’s birth by a person who is not the biological parent, the 2010 amendments have deleted this provision and the birth may now only be registered by a ‘prescribed person’ when the parents are deceased.64 In these cases the death certificates of the parents are required. This creates a problem for children who are cared for by grandparents or other family members, which is often the case, and where biological parents are not deceased, but unavailable to register the child’s birth. 61 62 63 64 Legal framework on nationality and statelessness in South Africa applicants will require legal representation in order to effectively access it. Late registration of birth interviews at the local offices appear to consist of one to three people, but it seems to be a quite informal procedure. In terms of Section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act, a child who is born in South Africa who does not have the nationality of any other country shall be a South African citizen by birth. These children may be children born to foreigners. See sections 9 and 10 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, respectively. Section 9 of the BDRA and regulations 3, 4 and 5. Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide 35