Registry officer fired after triplets born in South Africa got Zimbabwean birth certificates
A Zimbabwean civil registry officer was fired after the Labour Court upheld her dismissal for issuing birth certificates to triplets born in South Africa. The court ruled that the officer failed to perform mandatory verification checks, regardless of the mother's attempt to deceive the system.
Why it matters
This case highlights the importance of administrative integrity and the legal consequences for public officials who bypass verification protocols in government documentation.
A Civil Registry processing officer has lost her job after the Labour Court upheld her dismissal for registering triplets as having been born in Zimbabwe when they were actually born in South Africa, ruling that a mother’s deception did not excuse her failure to verify the documents.
Justice Bridget Chivizhe dismissed the appeal by the officer, who had worked in the Public Service since 2009, finding that she failed to perform essential checks before issuing birth certificates to the three children.
The officer, stationed at Guruve District Registry, had registered the triplets during a mobile registration exercise at Magaya Primary School in July 2022, recording their place of birth as Mugarakamwe Clinic and Mugugu village in Guruve.
But an investigation was launched after the children’s biological mother approached the Civil Registry in November 2023 seeking to correct their place of birth, disclosing that they had been born in South Africa.
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