“Of these, 949,757 (87.3%) were births that occurred and were registered in 2021 (current birth registrations), while 137,769 (12.7%) were births that occurred in the previous years but were registered in 2021. Of the total 949,757 children born in 2021, there were 498,573 male and 491,056 female births,” it said.
The report indicates the negative impact of Covid-19 and national lockdown regulations, such as the closure of home affairs offices, which resulted in a 9.2% decline in registration within 30 days in 2020. However, a slight increase of 4% was observed in 2021, which means registration within 30 days increased from 71% in 2020 to 75%.
Late registrations of birth after the lapse of 30 days but before the end of the year also decreased from 25% in 2020 to 20% in 2021.
The report further revealed that in 2021, 74.6% of births that occurred complied with the Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Act, which stipulates all births must be registered within 30 days from the date of occurrence.
However, it showed KwaZulu-Natal remains the only province which performs poorly in terms of early birth registrations, with only 67.7% of births registered within 30 days.
The report indicates information about fathers remains the biggest challenge. More than 60% of births registered in 2021 had no details of fathers.
“ However, this is expected to change in the coming years as in September 2021 the Constitutional Court ruled this section of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act is unconstitutional. This means unmarried fathers can have their information registered in the birth certificate of their children at the department of home affairs,” said Stats SA.
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Increase in births to mothers aged 17 and younger
Image: Gallo Images/Thinkstock
A report by Stats SA revealed 45,257 births registered in 2021 occurred to mothers aged 17 and younger.
According to the report, which provides information on live births that occurred in 2021, of these teenage births, 42 were births to mothers between 11 and 12 years old.
“Early pregnancy and motherhood in South Africa creates a greater risk in terms of maternal complications, resulting in low survival rates of babies, and forces many girls to prematurely take on an adult role for which they are not emotionally or physically prepared,” said Stats SA.
According to the report, 1,087 526 births were registered in the country in 2021.
Nine-year-old gives birth to healthy baby in Zimbabwe
“Of these, 949,757 (87.3%) were births that occurred and were registered in 2021 (current birth registrations), while 137,769 (12.7%) were births that occurred in the previous years but were registered in 2021. Of the total 949,757 children born in 2021, there were 498,573 male and 491,056 female births,” it said.
The report indicates the negative impact of Covid-19 and national lockdown regulations, such as the closure of home affairs offices, which resulted in a 9.2% decline in registration within 30 days in 2020. However, a slight increase of 4% was observed in 2021, which means registration within 30 days increased from 71% in 2020 to 75%.
Late registrations of birth after the lapse of 30 days but before the end of the year also decreased from 25% in 2020 to 20% in 2021.
The report further revealed that in 2021, 74.6% of births that occurred complied with the Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Act, which stipulates all births must be registered within 30 days from the date of occurrence.
However, it showed KwaZulu-Natal remains the only province which performs poorly in terms of early birth registrations, with only 67.7% of births registered within 30 days.
The report indicates information about fathers remains the biggest challenge. More than 60% of births registered in 2021 had no details of fathers.
“ However, this is expected to change in the coming years as in September 2021 the Constitutional Court ruled this section of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act is unconstitutional. This means unmarried fathers can have their information registered in the birth certificate of their children at the department of home affairs,” said Stats SA.
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Zimbabwe’s teenage pregnancy crisis: 5,000 pregnancies in one month
Teenage pregnancy: Call for urgent justice-centred intervention
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