Children Born In South Africa To Zimbabwean Parents Not Automatically Entitled To SA citizenship

The
argument
by
the
parents
was
that
the
department’s
refusal
was
unlawful,
unconstitutional
and
invalid.

The
parents
are
Zimbabwean
citizens
currently
staying
in
South
Africa
and
have
three
children
who
were
born
between
2010
and
2016.

All
their
children
were
given
unabridged
certificates
for
non-citizens.

The
parents
had
approached
the
department
to
apply
for
a
South
African
birth
certificate
for
each
of
the
children
as
all
the
children
were
born
in
South
Africa
and
didn’t
have
Zimbabwean
citizenship
or
nationality.

They
were
told
the
only
assistance
they
could
get
from
the
department
was
to
be
issued
with
unabridged
birth
certificates
for
non-South
African
citizens
for
their
children
to
go
to
Zimbabwe
so
that
the
authorities
there
could
issue
them
with
Zimbabwean
birth
certificates.

The
department
said
it
was
difficult
to
issue
a
South
African
birth
certificate
for
citizenship
where
grounds
for
citizenship
have
not
been
established,
as
in
this
case,
in
terms
of
either
birth
or
naturalisation.

Children
born
of
permanent
residents
follow
their
parent’s
status,
the
department
said,
adding
the
applicants
were
from
Zimbabwe
and
had
not
renounced
their
citizenship.

Dual
citizenship
is
prohibited
in
law
and
as
such
the
applicant’s
children
are
Zimbabwean
citizens.

The
department
also
said
citizenship
could
not
be
conferred
on
children
of
permit
holders
for
work
approved
for
that
purposes,
or
for
study
or
holiday
purposes.

The
court
said
the
basic
principle
of
South
African
citizenship
was
that
a
child
followed
the
citizenship
or
nationality
of
his
or
her
parents.

If
one
parent
was
a
South
African
citizen,
the
child
would
be
a
citizen
by
birth.

The
court
turned
down
the
application
and
said
it
was
best
to
register
the
children
in
Zimbabwe.