18 Oct 2023

 Traditional leaders can play a key role in promoting registration of births and deaths in their communities.

Chief legal advisor in the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Thamsanqa Silitshena told a consultative meeting of traditional leaders in Francistown, Tuesday, that as Dikgosi, they were trusted sources of information and advice, hence their public endorsement of registration efforts could  encourage people to participate

Additionally, he said, traditional leaders may have access to information on births and deaths of their people that was not available to the government. 

“Empowering traditional leaders to register births and deaths can also help to strengthen the relationship between government and the community,” he saidMr Silitshena added doing that may lead to better cooperation and collaboration on many issues.Touching on the reason for the meeting, namely getting input from stakeholders towards review of the Birth and Death Act, Mr Silitshena said the excercise was long overdue. 

“The Act has many loopholes that disadvantage Batswana especially those born or who die outside the country,” he said.

The object of renewing the act was among others to ease both registration of deaths and births that took place outside the country.

Dikgosi,  he said, dealt  with such issues on a daily basis, hence were better place to understand and know what needsed to be addressed.

Another reason to review the act was to make the processes of name change and birth marker assignment easier. 

Currently, he said, the system did not make provision for people with an unspecified birth marker, while the process to change a name was torturous and expensive as the person wanting to change their name had to apply to the High Court.

He hoped that delegating the name-changing responsibility to magistrates courts – which was what the review hoped to achieve - would ease the burden on applicants, as those courts are present in many places around the country and therefore closer to the people

Kgosi Gunny Moses of Phase 4 Customary Court said community outreach was important as it educated people about  what was expected of them regarding birth and death registration, adding efforts to educate the public must involve dikgosi.

Welcoming the exercise, he said the review of births and deaths act would make life easier for people, especially in towns which were melting pots. 

He urged mothers to submit all the information needed for birth registration as they were the only ones who truly possessed it.

Kgosi Bokamoso Radipitse of Tonota said by engaging with community members directly, dikghosi could help to dispel any misconceptions or fears about registration, and encourage people to register birth and deaths timely.

He said this would help government had accurate data, essential for planning and development. 

The meeting was one of many that the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs is holding around the country to consult stakeholders on the review of Births and Deaths Act. Government is doing the review in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). ENDS