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Date : 26/09/2003
Source: Department of Home Affairs
Title: Buthelezi: Debate on Alteration of Sex Description & Sex Status Bill, NA


ADDRESS BY MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, MP, MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AND PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY, AT THE DEBATE ON THE ALTERATION OF SEX DESCRIPTION AND SEX STATUS BILL, National Assembly, Cape Town, 26 September 2003

Madam Speaker:

I wish to thank all those who have participated in this Debate. I have noted all the contributions made and I am mindful that one hopes that the Debate on the Electoral Law will not stop here. Much of what has been said, both from a point of view of support, as well from a point of view of criticism, may be taken into account as we continue policy formulation in respect of the Electoral Law. I trust that the next Parliament of South Africa, elected at the next elections next year, will take a better and wider consideration to the relationship between the people of South Africa and their political representatives. As Cabinet indicated, the draft Bill prepared by the Electoral Task Team will be submitted to the next Parliament of South Africa. That will give the opportunity for many of the contributions made during this important Debate, to be taken on board.

The Department of Home Affairs in its attempts to realign legislation under its administration with the Constitution, has identified the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Bill as one of those pieces of new legislation to be introduced in line with the Bill of Rights and democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom enshrined in our Constitution.

This follows the recommendations of the South African Law Commission, which were submitted to the then Minister of Justice Dr AM Omar MP. The main objective of this Bill is to make provision for any person who has undergone a sex change operation, either by surgery and/or medical treatment so that such person has the sex organs of the opposite sex to his or her biological sex, to apply to the Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs for the alteration of his or her sex description in the National Population Register.

The Bill provides that an application for the alteration of the person's sex description shall be accompanied by the birth certificate of the applicant, reports from the medical practitioners who performed any of the processes resulting in the sex change, a report by an independent medical practitioner, who did not take part in any of the processes but has performed an examination on the sex appearance of the person concerned.

The Bill further provides that the Director-General of Home Affairs shall furnish written reasons for any refusal to register such an applicant. The applicant can approach the magistrate's court in the district in which he or she resides for an order authorizing the change of his or her sex description.

The application to the magistrate's court shall be accompanied by all documents submitted to the Director-General of Home Affairs together with the reasons for refusal to alter the sex description. Upon registration of the altered sex description, the person concerned shall be legally deemed for all purposes to be the person of the new sex description. The Bill also seeks to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act, No. 51 of 1992, as amended, by the insertion of a new section after section 24 thereof to provide for the Director-General of Home Affairs to order that the sex description of a person be altered in the birth register and an amended birth certificate be issued accordingly.

The Bill introduces the following provisions:

* It provides for the procedures and requirements which an applicant who has undergone a sex change operation, treatment and /or evolvement through natural development resulting in a sex change must follow, to enable the Director-General of Home Affairs to alter his or her sex description in the National Population Register. It further provides for the manner in which refusals by the Director-General must be made, and the processes to be followed by the applicant to appear before the magistrate either in person or assisted by a legal practitioner.

* It provides for the acknowledgement of the alteration of sex appearance, where the application to alter the sex description in terms of clause 1 has been granted, either by the Director-General or an order issued by the magistrate. This clause makes provision that the person concerned shall, from the date of the recording in the National Population Register, be legally deemed for all purposes to be the person of the sex description so recorded.

* It provides that the rights and obligations that have been acquired by or accrued to such a person before the alteration of his or her sex description are not adversely affected by the alteration. The Bill seeks to amend the Births and Deaths Registration Act, No. 51 of 1992, as amended, by the insertion of a new clause, which allows the Director-General of Home Affairs to order the alteration of the sex description of a person in the National Population Register and issue an amended birth certificate accordingly. Furthermore it provides for the short title of the Bill being the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Bill.

I urge that this House accepts the Alteration of Sex Description and Sex Status Bill.

I thank you.

Source: Department of Home Affairs (http://home-affairs.pwv.gov.za)

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