Home Affairs says online DNA article a hoax
The Department of Home Affairs released a statement on Wednesday saying it has noted a hoax article doing the rounds on social media purported to emanate from an interview conducted with Minister Malusi Gigaba pertaining to the introduction of compulsory DNA testing requirements for registration of new births.
"We wish to categorically state that no such interview was ever conducted by the Minister with what appears to be a fake website. The Department will utilise official communication platforms to create awareness around any changes in policy should there be such pronouncements, including those made by the Ministry," it said.
The article claims that "from 2017 onwards, all babies born to South African parents will be required to undergo DNA tests to confirm their paternity before they can be allowed to take on their fathers' surnames".
To provide clarity on the matter, in 2014, the department announced new Births and Deaths Regulations.
"In cases of children born out of wedlock, we have been aware of cases where single mothers get involved in relationships with non-South African men and approach Home Affairs offices to record these persons as fathers of their children even if they are not the biological fathers. This is then used by such persons to address our Department for permanent residence status in the country due to the right that children have to be cared for by their parents. To this end, and where such a circumstance arises, we now require the results of paternity tests. This is applicable to non-South Africans," the department said.
The department said, similarly, where there is an application by a third party to substitute his particulars as the father of a child and to effectively remove the recorded father's name in the birth certificate, the regulations now provide that a paternity test must be submitted by the applicant.
"In instances where the parents of a child born out of wedlock are both recorded in the system but their status is unmarried and recorded as such, upon marriage, and if they wish to change their marital status on the child's profile, the law provides that this may be done without a requirement of a paternity test."