The newest amendments to the BDRA and its regulations now make provision for the recording of more ‘biometrics’, including palm prints, hand measurements and retinal patterns.55 The local Home Affairs offices are not equipped to implement these provisions yet, but the recording of such biometrics will solve many problems relating to birth registration. At the moment it seems strict requirements for birth registration are implemented, because a child cannot yet be linked to a birth certificate, and therefore his parents, through biometrics. If it is eventually possible to link a birth certificate to a child or an adult through biometrics, strict requirements with regards to birth registration may be relaxed, because of a reduced risk of fraud in birth certificates. Legal framework on nationality and statelessness in South Africa The Births and Deaths Registration Act (BDRA) provides for birth registration of all children born on the territory, whether to South Africans or foreign parents. Children born in South Africa who do not qualify for citizenship are entitled to a birth certificate under the Births and Deaths Registration Act. However, they are issued birth certificates that do not include an ID number and the child is not entered into the National Population Register. Before the amendments to the BDRA and its regulations came into force on 1 March 2014, the regulations53 provided that foreign children receive a handwritten certificate. The newest regulations on the Births and Deaths Registration Act54 have removed the provision for handwritten birth certificates and all children in the Republic shall receive computer-generated, unabridged birth certificates. This is a positive development since some service providers and foreign authorities are reluctant to accept handwritten birth certificates as authentic. It will also be easier to re-issue these certificates when the original has been lost. LHR has encountered clients who have been required to reregister their children if the handwritten certificate is lost. It is unclear whether there is a birth register for all births on the territory, as the current Acts refer to the National Population Register (record of citizens and permanent residents), which has replaced the reference to a birth register in previous Acts. The BDRA requires all births to be registered within 30 days. It has recently been coupled with Home Affairs' National Population Registry Campaign, which has seen an increase in mobile registration clinics, linkage of hospitals to the Home Affairs’ birth registration system and efforts to enforce the requirement of a birth certificate for children to enrol in crèche and school, to receive medical treatment, to apply for foster care and social grants and more. 53 54 55 GNR.2139 of 9 September 1992: Regulations in terms of section 32 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992. GNR.128 of 27 February 2014: Regulations in terms of section 32 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992. See section 1 of the BDRA Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide 33