Home Affair Director General, Mkhuseli Apleni, speaking before a Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs in Cape Town, said the children would be registered as dependants of such applicants in a move he said would enhance the minors access to essential services.
Previously, children born to asylum seekers were not registered, a setback that resulted in them struggling to access basic services. The move is a major boost to Zimbabwean asylum seekers, who make the highest number of the estimated three million Zimbabweans living in South Africa.