Becoming a South African citizen by birth is a process defined by specific legal criteria established by South African law.
According to the South African Citizenship Act of 1995, and its subsequent amendments, citizenship by birth is granted under certain conditions.
With the recent controversy surrounding Miss SA contestant Chidimma Adetshina, IOL sheds light on who becomes an automatic citizen according to South African law.
As explained by Njabulo Nzuza, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs on Wednesday morning on 702:
“A person born in South Africa is automatically a South African citizen if at least one of their parents is a South African citizen or permanent resident at the time of their birth.
“When we say by blood it solely means you are born in that country, and then you become a citizen.”
“This principle often termed citizen by blood, it ensures that children inherit their nationality from their parents rather than merely being born within the country,” he said.
In other words, merely being born in South Africa does not mean you qualify for South African citizenship.
Nzuza elaborates that: “In South Africa you get citizenship by blood which means one of your parents must be South African.
“Whether your father is from Lesotho and your mother is South African then you qualify for citizenship. If your father is from South Africa and your mother is from Lesotho then you qualify for citizenship.’’
Unlike in the United States of America, where if you are born in the country then you qualify for citizenship, this is not the case in South Africa.
Furthermore, Nzuza said the Department of Home Affairs has established rigorous internal control systems to prevent fraudulent claims of citizenship.
“We have put in internal controls like blood tests to check paternity and so on. If people suspect that a person has wrongfully obtained citizenship, they have the right to report it through the Protection of Personal information Act (POPIA),” added Nzuza.
“We then investigate whether citizenship has been obtained in a wrong way and in cases of fraud, we may revoke the citizenship,’’ he said.
He said in some instances, citizenship could be revoked it was found to be acquired unlawfully.
“When citizenship is fraudulently obtained, we not only take away citizenship of that individual but also the child or descendant involved.
“I have heard of a lot of cases where people say if your born in South Africa then you qualify for citizenship. No, in South Africa it is by blood,’’ he said.
Nzuza has pointed out that children follow the status of their parents.
He said if the parents are here on permanent residency and the children are born in the country then that particular child/children qualifies for permanent residency.
In addition, a child adopted by a South African citizen will also acquire South African citizenship he said.
“We haven’t received any specific request to do any verification. If we do get formal requests through formal systems those investigations will be held and action will be taken,’’ Nzuza said.
IOL