Court clarifies citizenship of children of foreign parents

Children born in SA to foreign parents are entitled to apply for citizenship through the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995, even if they were born before the 2010 Amendment of the Act, which came into effect in 2013. This was the judgment delivered in the Western Cape High Court in a case brought against Home Affairs Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize and the department’s Director-General last month by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) on behalf of six children born to foreign parents in SA, notes a Cape Times report. ‘They meet the requirements for applying for citizenship in terms of section 4(3) of the Citizenship Act, in that they were born in SA, have lived here since birth and have birth certificates attesting to their birth in SA,’ the LRC said. The court directed the department to accept the applications for citizenship and to decide on the applications within 10 days. It also directed that the Amendment Act be interpreted to include children born before 2013.