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No father info for majority of 2017 births

A mother holding a child's hand
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Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) says 62% of children born in the country last year had no details of fathers recorded at the time of birth. This is in line with recent research which shows that a staggering 62% of South African children do not live with their fathers.

This was revealed in their 2017 Recorded Births report. Stats SA says there were nearly a million recorded live births in South Africa last year, a 2.1% increase from 2016.

The law requires details of the father on unabridged birth certificates.

Mothers between the ages of 20 and 34 years accounted for 73% of the births. Births occurring to adolescents aged 10 to 19 years accounted for 11% of registered births in 2017, down from 20% in 2016.

Mothers aged 35 years and older accounted for 14,7% of all births.  There were at least 8 050 more boys than girls born.

The most populous provinces, Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal, had the highest number of registered births and the lowest numbers were in the Free State and Northern Cape, in line with population sizes.  Enzokuhle was the most popular name for both genders followed by Lethabo for boys and Melokuhle for girls. The most popular surnames for both sexes was Dlamini, followed by Nkosi and Ndlovu.

Additional reporting and graphic (below) by Mamaponya Motsai

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