NATIONAL NEWS - Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is awaiting the report on an investigation into the conduct of a Centurion home affairs office after its staff failed to comply with a court order.
The non-compliance by the officials could have seen a minor lose out on an R8-million in foreign inheritance.
The amended birth certificate of the minor was handed in after the application was delayed due to the conduct of the officials of the department of home affairs and a “disregard of a court order”, according to Motsoaledi.
The court order was issued by the Pietermaritzburg high court to amend the birth certificate of the minor, which the Centurion home affairs centre had failed to do.
Recently, Motsoaledi met with the mother of the child to apologise for the delay in implementing the court order and for the manner in which she was treated by home affairs officials.
“I am pleased that the matter has been finalised and the document issued. It is important that citizens become aware that home affairs are committed to resolving such cases. I would like to apologise profusely to the mother and the nation for the pain she went through. I am also happy that she has accepted the apology,” he said.
He said disciplinary action would be taken against any official found to have flouted the policies and codes governing the civil service.
Motsoaledi said he believed that the mother of the minor child ought not to have been forced to approach the courts of law in the first place as the minor was on the verge of losing the inheritance.
“Laziness, treating members of the public with disdain and failure to uphold the law have no place in such a crucial department charged with the constitutional and statutory responsibility to issue documents that empower and change the lives of people,” said Motsoaledi.
