Deputy Speaker, on 4 March 2013, the Department of Home Affairs began the digital production of unabridged birth certificates for all newborn babies on the spot and for free as the government waived the fee of R75,00 for first issue of unabridged certificate.
This document records the names of both parents of the child as well as the identity numbers of the child and parents, place and country of birth for all.
This is a leap for the department that has up to now had to maintain and store these documents. Citizens no longer apply for two types of certificates. Thereby, repeat visits to offices to modify certificates have been eliminated. The department's modernisation programme, while still in its early stages of implementation, has begun to transform the department in small but meaningful ways. It eradicates, amongst other things, reliance on manual, paper-based records. I thank you. [Applause.]
