Katlego Sekhu
The court has found that children born in South Africa to foreign nationals are not automatically entitled to South African citizenship.
This comes after the Zimbabwean parents of three children born in South Africa reached out to the Polokwane High Court to review a decision by the Department of Home Affairs denying the issue of birth certificates. They argued that the refusal by Home Affairs to issue the birth certificates was unlawful.
Legal analyst and founder of Dubazana Attorneys, Nthabiseng Dubazana, weighed in on this case and revealed that there are “millions of stateless children” because of an issue like this.
Dubazana explained that the usual practice is that the child takes on the citizenship of the parent. “The child being born in a different country doesn’t automatically mean that they are now citizens of that country,” she explained, highlighting that it would be easier if both parents had acquired citizenship in that particular country.
“The children would become South African nationals when they turn eighteen and apply for citizenship. That in itself is not necessarily an easy process, as you would also need an affidavit that proves that you have a blood relation in South Africa,” said Dubazana in part.
Listen to the in-depth discussion on 959 Breakfast.
Read Next: Expert sheds light on the growing pattern of earth tremors in Gauteng
