Boy declared citizen despite doubts about mom's status

Source: iol.co.za, 03/06/2016

Pretoria - The life of a teenager changed this week after the Centre
for Child Law in Pretoria assisted him in forcing the Department of
Home Affairs to register him as a South African citizen.





This means that the 14-year-old has all the rights of a citizen,
including going to school here and receiving all the other privileges
which a citizen enjoys, Professor Ann Skelton, head of the centre, said.
The centre, together with an advocate who was appointed as a curator
to act on behalf of the teenager, headed to the high court in Pretoria
to have the boy declared a South African citizen. He was until now
stateless as his mother comes from Zambia. However, his father, who is
not involved in his upbringing, is a South African.


There were allegations after his birth that his mother was illegally
in the country. Although Home Affairs at first issued him with a birth
certificate, this was later revoked as there were doubts about his
mother`s status.


The teenager`s biggest concern in being stateless was his academic
career. Without a valid ID document, his registration at school, his
extramural activities and other privileges were compromised.


Skelton said the case once again highlighted that the rights to
citizenship flowed from the fact that one of the parents had to be a
South African – regardless of whether the child was born in this
country or not.


She said the fact that the boy is now a South African, however, did
not automatically give his mother the same rights.


According to her, the child`s rights could not be compromised simply
because Home Affairs had doubts about the mother. "His status has
nothing to do with his mother`s."


Another danger of not having valid South African citizenship, is that
the child could be deported to Zambia, although he never lived in that
country. The curator confirmed that the child was born in 2002 in a
Gauteng hospital and that the uninterested father was indeed the
child`s father and a citizen of this country.


Skelton said the law was clear – if one parent is a citizen, the child
is a citizen too. The nationality of the other parent is irrelevant.