On Monday the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, personally handed over an amended birth certificate for an eight-year-old girl, who stood to lose out on an inheritance of R8 million due to delays by his department.
TimesLIVE reported that the minor from KwaZulu-Natal is currently involved in an international court battle for the inheritance of Unisa law professor Hans Schulze’s mother. The publication says that the child’s mother was in a relationship with Schulze for five years, they got married and he adopted the child before he died due to cancer in 2019.
The German law allows a descendant to claim the estate regardless of whether they are mentioned in the will of the deceased and the court required evidence that Schulze was named the child’s father on her birth certificate. A court order was reportedly issued in November 2019 giving Home Affairs officials three days to present an amended birth certificate, however, officials in Centurion did not comply.
According to reports, a doctor from Germany is also making a claim for the estate.
Minister Motsoaledi is expecting a report from an investigation into the conduct of the officials in his department and will be taking the necessary disciplinary action.
