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The department of home
affairs had wanted to apply for leave to appeal against a judgment of the high
court in Pretoria‚ which declared that the child was a South African citizen.
TimesLIVE
report continues:
The
child became stateless because Cuban law does not allow children to obtain
Cuban citizenship if they were born outside of Cuba to parents considered
“permanent emigrants”‚ or Cubans who had lived outside of Cuba for more than 11
months.
South
African law also gives citizenship based on the South African citizenship of
the parents.
However‚
Section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act gave these children a chance to be declared
South African citizens.
However‚
the home affairs department refused to implement the subsection by way of
making regulations‚ forcing the child to approach the high court.
On
the morning of the hearing at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein‚ the
department withdrew the case and agreed to an order that the child is declared
to be a South African citizen by birth.
The
department also agreed to comply with the high court order by issuing the child
with a South African citizen ID number and birth certificate.
The
Minister of Home Affairs also agreed to make regulations to section 2(2) of the
Citizenship Act within 18 months in order to allow other stateless children to
apply for citizenship.
Since
section 2(2) was inserted into the Citizenship Act‚ it was impossible to
implement‚ because there was no application form.
Once
the regulations are passed‚ other stateless children will also be able to apply
for citizenship and will no longer be stateless.
The
child’s mother‚ a civil engineer‚ was a candidate for a programme between South
Africa and the Cuban government for the housing department and was based in
Cape Town with her husband.
The
couple had been married for eight years when she arrived in South Africa and
could not have a child.
Her
mother said it was a miracle baby as she was 40 when the child was born.
“She
was born in September 2008 here in Cape Town. When she was born‚ we immediately
thought she was Cuban because we are from Cuba‚” her mother said.
One
of the arguments by the department appeal to the SCA was that too many children
were expected to apply for citizenship.
Lawyers
for Human Rights said there was no basis to believe that too many children
would qualify for citizenship under this section.
“It
is a preventative measure for special cases and will protect the most
vulnerable of children. It applies to children born in South Africa who do not
have a claim to another country's citizenship‚” Lawyers for Human Rights said
in a statement.
South Africa To Let Stateless Children
Apply For Citizenship
Associated
Press reports a South African legal group says the foreign affairs office has
decided to address the problem of stateless children by allowing them to apply
for citizenship.
Lawyers
for Human Rights says the decision came just before the Supreme Court of Appeal
heard the case of an 8-year-old stateless child born in South Africa to parents
from overseas. The Pretoria High Court had ruled the child was a citizen.
South
Africa has argued that allowing a path to citizenship would mean too many
children applying.
But
Tuesday's statement says the foreign affairs office withdrew its appeal and
will create regulations within 18 months to allow other stateless children to
apply for citizenship.
The legal group says that without such regulations, stateless children cannot leave South Africa nor obtain legal status.
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