Johannesburg – An online birth certificate registration system for children born at a Durban hospital was launched on Tuesday, the KwaZulu-Natal health department said.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, together with KZN Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo, had launched the new online birth certificate registration system for children born at Durban’s Addington Hospital, spokesperson Desmond Motha said.

Thirty-nine of the province’s 53 hospitals offering maternity services are now directly linked to home affairs.

Gigaba said no baby born at a government hospital should leave without a birth certificate.

“We will work to ensure that all hospitals are covered,” he said.

Dhlomo welcomed the new system, saying it would help expedite access to government-sponsored social services like child support grants, while curtailing birth certificate fraud.

SAPA