Namibia: Legislation to address citizenship gap for illegal SA citizens
Published: 7/Mar/2024
Source: The Namibian
The home affairs ministry has drafted two pieces of legislation to cater to South Africans who came to Namibia in the 1980s and missed the one-year deadline at independence that allowed them to renounce citizenship of any other country.
*Fiona, a talented athlete and high school graduate, is considered a ‘ghost citizen’ of Namibia.
Her parents are part of a group of South African descendants who decided to remain in Namibia after the country gained independence.
Despite their long-term residence and contributions to society, she does not meet the criteria for citizenship under the country’s existing regulations because of her parents’ failure to register her at birth.
Fiona has agreed to speak to The Namibian, but prefers to remain anonymous for fear of deportation.
She says she was born in 2003 at a local hospital in the Erongo region to South African parents.
She only has a hospital card to show that she was born in Namibia.
Read further: https://www.namibian.com.na/legislation-to-address-citizenship-gap-for-illegal-sa-citizens/