The ten states of the Southern African region recognised by the African Union have a very diverse history on nationality, despite the common legal heritage of the majority within the British Commonwealth. The “settler states” of South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia had their own nationality laws much earlier than the other states who only adopted nationality legislation after independence in the 1960s and 70s.
While the laws of South Africa and Namibia provide strong protections against statelessness, as do those in the lusophone states, the descent-based laws in the remaining anglophone countries have left many at risk of statelessness. Gender-based discrimination has reduced; but Southern Africa has moved less far towards acceptance of dual nationality than other regions.
The main crisis relating to citizenship in the region has been in Zimbabwe, where the government from 2000 refused to recognise people who had a potential claim to another nationality as Zimbabweans (even if they had never made any attempt to claim that nationality, and might not qualify for it under the other state’s national law). The 2013 constitution of Zimbabwe should have resolved some of these questions, in particular since it allowed dual nationality for citizens from birth; but five years later the citizenship act had yet to be amended, and many were still forced to litigate to restore their citizenship.
The Southern Africa region is joined by five additional states (DRC, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania) to form the Southern African Development Community (SADC) a regional economic community also recognised by the AU. SADC adopted a protocol on facilitation of free movement in 2005, but it is far less comprehensive and regional integration generally is less developed than in East and West Africa (and is not yet in force). The SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, however, contains strong commitments for women’s equality to be enshrined in constitutions and national laws. In 2016, the SADC Parliamentary Forum adopted a resolution on the prevention of statelessness.
By Dianne Hubbard Namibian citizenship only came into being when Namibia became an independent nation on 21 March 1990, after a decades-long liberation struggle. During Namibia’s colonial occupation, its inhabitants were identified against their will first as German nationals (from…
By Amahle Pillay The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has published its new draft identity management policy for public comment. The policy aims to introduce a new ID system in the country which will act as a single source of…
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Updates including information on the 6th anniversary of the #IBELONG campaign to end statelessness UNHCR Southern Africa Statelessness Newsletter EN Oct-Dec 2020 UNHCR Afrique australe Apatridie Bulletin FR oct-dec 2020 UNHCR IBELONG 6th anniversary Southern Africa
Public Consultation Version, Government Notice No.1425, 31 December 2020 Section 3.3 Policy Objectives: This policy is developed with the following objectives in mind: Enable an inclusive digital population register that is secure, accurate and confidential Position the DHA as the…
Le président du Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, vient d’accorder la citoyenneté kenyane à au moins 3000 apatrides Zimbabwéens et rwandais. L’agence des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (HCR) s’est félicitée lundi de cette décision des autorités kenyanes. A l’occasion de sa…
by Kelly Kapianga GLOBALCIT Country Reports; 2020/14 Defining what ‘citizenship’ is is a difficult task. This is because although there tend to be continuities, the markers of citizenship are often geographically bounded and vary from country to country. Often, it…
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