Man prevented from visiting sick mother\u201a and from attending her funeral<\/p>\n
By Ernest Mabuza<\/p>\n
A family of three has been stateless for a year as a result of the Home Affairs Department not finalising his South African citizenship.<\/p>\n
The father could not visit India when his mother got ill last year nor when she passed away in March this year because the permanent resident ID he has does not allow him to apply for a passport. They had renounced their Indian citizenship as part of their procedure to become naturalised South Africans.<\/p>\n
In 2016\u201a Minister Malusi Gigaba imposed a new regulation that required immigrants to attend a naturalisation ceremony\u201a similar to citizenship ceremonies held in the US\u201a the United Kingdom and Australia. The latest ceremony was meant to take place in November 2017\u201a but due to the various cabinet reshuffles it was cancelled at the last minute.<\/p>\n
There has not been a naturalisation ceremony since February 2017\u201a meaning no one has been naturalised to South African citizenship in more than a year<\/p>\n