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Stateless SA man left in limbo after parents never registered his birth turns to court for help

Source: News24, 03/01/2023

A young man left in legal limbo after his parents never registered his birth has appealed to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, for help.

The Department of Home Affairs had simply ignored his plight over the past nine years to be registered as a South African citizen.

Tebogo Khoza said since he turned 16 in 2013, he had tried in vain to be registered as a South African. He said he was born here and has never left the country since birth. While the department said it would assist him, nothing came of it.

Lawyers for Human Rights assisted him in his legal bid not to be rendered stateless.

Khoza was orphaned at the age of 9 and lived at a youth centre in Limpopo. He stayed there until he reached the age of 18.

According to South African law, he should have access to citizenship and documentation.

When he turned 16 he made his first attempt with the help of the centre to register his birth and apply for an identity document.

The designated case manager from the Department of Social Development who handled his matter made no attempt to register his birth or obtain documentation for him.

Due to the fact that his birth was never registered, an immigration investigation officer from the Department of Home Affairs was assigned to investigate his case.

A report was submitted two years later by the investigating officer, which concluded that Khoza was indeed born in South Africa and did not have citizenship anywhere else.

Despite this, the department refused to process his application for citizenship or provide him with vital documentation to enable him to access services and live productively in society.

Lawyers for Human Rights said through no fault of his own, Khoza had been deprived of birth registration and citizenship since birth.

It said this case highlights the failure of South Africa’s legal framework to adequately address the issue of statelessness.

“The South African Citizenship Act makes provision for children who are born in South Africa, and would otherwise be statelessness, to acquire citizenship by birth.

“The act also makes provision for children born in South Africa from non-citizen parent(s) to acquire citizenship through naturalisation if they have lived their whole lives in the Republic until the age of 18,” said Nothando Shongwe from the organisation’s Statelessness Project.

However, South Africa had not established or published regulations that prescribe the administrative process to follow for submitting such applications, she said.

“The Constitutional Court in Chisuse v Director General: Department of Home Affairs emphasised that citizenship goes to the core of a person’s identity, their sense of belonging and security of person.

“Deprivation of, or interference with, a person’s citizenship affects many aspects of their private and public life, including that of their family,” Shongwe said.

It was argued in court that in failing to ensure that Khoza is documented, he, together with thousands of others in the same boat, are rendered stateless.

“All human beings have an inherent right to human dignity. Yet being undocumented results in people being treated in the most inhumane manner.”

Shongwe added that Khoza finds himself in legal limbo, and this had a range of negative impacts on his life. It had resulted in continued prejudice as he could not study, work, get married, obtain a driving licence, open a bank account or access any social assistance.

Khoza said in his affidavit that he recently had a child, but his name could not appear on the child’s birth register as he was undocumented.

“This causes me a great deal of stress as I am not legally recognised as the father of my child,” he said. He also wants to marry his partner, but being undocumented, he cannot do so.

He has received many job offers and development opportunities over the years, but once again he is hampered in accepting these due to his lack of legal status.

The court meanwhile reserved judgment in this case.

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