In the case of a child born out of wedlock (born to unmarried persons) no person is compelled by law to acknowledge being the father of the child. Thus, the mother of a child born out of wedlock can give the notice herself in which case the section written ‘FATHER OF CHILD’ on the birth certificate will be empty. The father of the child can however acknowledge paternity and the registrar can enter the name of the father upon the joint request of the mother and the father.

Once completed and accepted by the registrar, the BD 1 Form becomes the primary source document for the issuance of a birth certificate and the information on the birth certificate cannot be easily altered unless it is a minor clerical error. This why, in terms of section 27 of the Act, any person who willfully provides false information on the BD 1 Form can be found guilty of an offence and punished to a maximum of one year imprisonment.

There are cases where a child is born outside marriage and the father acknowledges paternity but the mother then decides later to have nothing to do with the father and applies to have the birth certificate altered by removing the father’s name. This may be because the mother is frustrated that the father is not being responsible or because the ‘father’ is not the real father of the child. In recent cases, women have also sought to have the father’s name ‘removed’ from the birth certificate to make it easy for them to emigrate with the child.

Unfortunately, and as already stated above, once the father acknowledges paternity his name cannot just be removed from the child’s birth certificate. The alteration to remove the father’s name from the birth certificate can only occur on the basis of a court order or if the mother (or both the mother and the father) are convicted of willfully providing false information during registration of birth.

Paternity is a presumption and where the mother is not sure at birth nothing stops her from registering the child as having a single parent with the ‘FATHER OF CHILD’ section remaining empty. Thus, in Minezhi v Boora (HH 201 of 2020) the court had this to say;

Whilst I am cognisant of the fact that in Katedza v Chunga and anor 2003(1) 470 the mother of the minor child was allowed to change his surname from that of his father into hers, in my view such an action is never in the best interests of the child. It ends up confusing the child. Today he is known by one surname and the next day by another surname. In my considered view, for a child born out of wedlock, there is nothing that bars the mother from using her own surname for the child from the start- see s 12 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act [Chapter 5:02]. 

It is therefore critical that the correct information be provided during registration of birth. Where the father is irresponsible and is not in the life of the child, the remedy is not to apply for a change of name of the child but to seek sole guardianship or sole custody.

The contents of this article are for general information purposes only and do not constitute our legal or professional advice. We accept no responsibility for any loss or damage of whatsoever nature which may arise from reliance on any of the information published herein.

Copyright © Marume & Furidzo Legal Practitioners 2024

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The Labour Act Chapter 28:01 recognizes CBAs negotiated between trade unions (registered or unregistered) and employers’ organizations in a particular industry. (See Part X of the Act.)

A collective bargaining agreement may make provision for the following among other things;

• rates of remuneration and minimum wages for different grades and types of occupations;
• benefits for employees;
• deductions which an employer may make from employees’ wages, including deductions for membership fees and union dues, and deductions which an employer may be required or permitted by law or by order of any competent court to make;
• methods of calculating, or factors for adjusting rates of pay, and the dates, times and modes of payment;
• all issues pertaining to overtime, piece-work, periods of vacation and vacation pay and constraints thereon;
• the demarcation of the appropriate categories and classes of employment and their respective functions;
• the conditions of employment for apprentices;
• the number of hours of work and the times of work with respect to all or some of the employees.
• the requirements of occupational safety;
• housing and transport facilities or in their absence, an allowance for the same;

 The law further provides that a CBA shall not contain any provision which is inconsistent with the Labour Act or any other enactment, and any CBA which contains any such provision shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be construed with such modifications, qualifications, adaptations and exceptions as may be necessary to bring it into conformity with the Act or such other enactment.

The law also recognizes the right of the employer and his employees to agree on the introduction of rates of pay which are higher than those stipulated in the CBA in a particular industry. Put differently, a CBA is used as the minimum benchmark.

After negotiation, a CBA shall be submitted to the Registrar of Labour for approval and registration. Upon registration of a CBA the Minister shall publish the agreement as a statutory instrument. The terms and conditions of a registered CBA shall be binding and effective upon the date of such publication and/or any date specified in the agreement.

It is important to point out that failure to observe the terms and conditions stated in a CBA is an unfair labour practice which can result in the employer facing litigation.

The contents of this article are for general information purposes only and do not constitute our legal or professional advice. We accept no responsibility for any loss or damage of whatsoever nature which may arise from reliance on any of the information published herein.

Copyright © Marume & Furidzo Legal Practitioners 2020

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