How can I apply for an official birth certificate and ID for my 18-year-old son after the document provided by his late grandmother was confirmed as fake by Home Affairs?

The long answer

Your son will need to apply for Late Registration of Birth (LRB), so he can get a true birth certificate, which he will need to have to get his ID. 

Home Affairs might want to question you about the fake ID first, so you should explain honestly that your son was living with his grandmother, who has now passed away, and that you were not involved in getting that fake birth certificate. Tell them that you want to get the right birth certificate for your son because he is 18 now and needs his ID. 

LRB often takes a very long time, and there were so many people waiting for years to get it all done that the Children’s Institute took Home Affairs to court about it in December 2024. They asked the court to order that the LRB backlog is unconstitutional, and to order Home Affairs to deliver a clear step-by-step plan to address the causes of the backlog, to make sure that these delays didn’t happen again. 

The lawyers for the Children’s Institute said that Home Affairs takes far too long to verify documents like the proof of birth form and evidence of school attendance. Also, their systems are outdated – using paper folders instead of digital – and there is a lack of cooperation between different offices. They said that the delays are also caused by Home Affairs insisting on doing interviews for all LRB applications, when this is not required by law.

That court case is still in progress, but Home Affairs says it is speeding up the LRB process by giving more authority from the provincial managers to district offices, and simplifying the registration process to cut down on the delays. 

These are the documents that you will need when you apply for your son’s late birth registration (LRB) and ID. You can get all the forms at Home Affairs (DHA) offices:   

• DHA 24/LRB (notice of birth)

• Children born at health facilities: DHA 24/PB (Proof of birth) / Children born at home: DHA 24PBA (Proof of Birth Affidavit)

• DHA 288/A (Affidavit giving reasons for LRB)

• DHA 288

• B1-529 (determination of citizenship)

• Biometrics (ID-size photo and fingerprint) of your son

• Fingerprints of parent/s. The official will take your son's fingerprints and photograph (for smart cards) and your fingerprints

• Certified copies of parent’s ID/Passport

• Application for an ID (Form B1-9)

• Proof of payment of an application fee

Even if you can’t supply all these documents, Home Affairs is still required to accept your application and consider it. This is because there is a law called the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act of 2000 (PAJA), which says that everyone has the constitutional right to fair, lawful and reasonable administrative action by government departments. PAJA says that you have the right to be informed of decisions that affect you, as well as the reasons for these decisions (Section 5(1) of PAJA), and that you can have these decisions reviewed by a court, if you are not satisfied.

Home Affairs may want to interview you and your son as well, and unfortunately there is a long waiting list for interviews. 

If you run into difficulties dealing with Home Affairs, the following organisations have had a lot of experience with them and may be able to assist you: 

• Lawyers for Human Rights 
  Email: info@lhr.org.za
  Tel: Musina: 015 534 2203 
  Durban: 031 301 0531
  Pretoria: 012 3202943 
  Johannesburg: 011 339 1960 
  Cape Town: 021 424 8561

• Legal Resources Centre 
  Email: info@lrc.org.za
  Tel: Johannesburg: 011 836 9831
  Cape Town: 021 481 3000

Wishing you the best,
Athalie