Home Affairs has agreed at the eleventh hour to grant citizenship to a stateless child born in SA, opening the way for others in the same predicament, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said yesterday, according to a News24 report. Following a two-year wait, the SCA was supposed to have heard the matter yesterday. However, the department decided at the last minute to withdraw its appeal against a ruling by the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria). 

According to LHR, the department agreed that:

* The child would be declared a South African citizen by birth;

* The department would comply with a High Court order and issue her a South African identity number and birth certificate;

* The Home Affairs Minister would add regulations to section 2(2) of the South African Citizenship Act within 18 months, to allow other stateless children to apply for citizenship.

The case involved an eight-year-old girl whose Cuban parents came to SA for work. She was born in Cape Town in 2008. Cuban law does not allow children to obtain Cuban citizenship if they are born outside Cuba to parents considered ‘permanent emigrants’ – those who have lived outside Cuba for more than 11 months. LHR said Section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act gives citizenship to such children born in SA. The department had refused to implement this, leaving the child stateless for eight years.

Full News24 report