Tyra Chante Naidoo, a Zimbabwe-born South African citizen, has petitioned Zimbabwean immigration authorities over her treatment as a visitor to the country.
Naidoo, who holds a Zimbabwean birth certificate and national identity card, wrote to the principal director of immigration to protest the way she was treated. Her visitor’s permit expired on June 19, 2024.
She is being represented by Prisca Dube, a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR). The letter, which was seen by <a href="https://newsday.co.zw/southerneye/local/article/200035329/i-want-a-zim-passport-says-zim-born-sa-citizen">Southern Eye</a>, reads:
<blockquote>
Our client was born in Zimbabwe on June 15, 1996, at Mbuya Nehanda Maternity Hospital in Harare. Her mother was a Zimbabwean citizen, she was born in Zimbabwe.
Our client holds a Zimbabwean birth certificate and national identity card marked CIT for citizens.
As such, she satisfies the requirements of citizenship by birth in terms of section 36 of the Constitution.
Our client’s parents had attempted to obtain a Zimbabwean passport for her when she was younger, but their efforts were futile.
</blockquote>
She later obtained South African citizenship on December 19, 2005.
The lawyers argued that, as a Zimbabwean citizen by birth, Naidoo is entitled to immunity from deportation and the right to a passport and other travel documents, as outlined in Section 66 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Reads the letter:
<blockquote>
We have further instructions to seek recourse through the courts should we not have a response from your office… In the event that we are forced to approach the courts, we will be seeking costs at a punitive scale as the legal proceedings can be avoided on a matter that presents facts on the basis of which the courts of Zimbabwe have passed judgements already.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Pindula News

Zimbabwe-born South African citizen, Tyra Chante Naidoo, wants a Zimbabwean passport. She wrote to Zimbabwean immigration authorities because she was treated like a visitor to her own country. She has a Zimbabwean birth certificate and identity card. Her parents tried to get her a Zimbabwean passport when she was young, but failed. Her lawyers say she has the right to a passport as a Zimbabwean citizen by birth. If she doesn't get a response, they will take the matter to court. Tyra wants her Zimbabwean passport and all the rights that come with it.

South African Citizen Demands Zimbabwean Passport

A South African court has rejected an application by Zimbabwean parents seeking to have their children issued with South African birth certificates.
According to <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/news/children-born-in-south-africa-to-foreign-parents-not-automatically-entitled-to-sa-citizenship-says-court-e841a847-3bb8-4b42-a8ce-4c6b5a408e9f">IOL</a>, the Polokwane High Court dismissed the parents’ application, which sought to review and overturn a decision by the Department of Home Affairs to refuse to issue birth certificates to their three children.
The court affirmed that children born in South Africa to foreign national parents do not automatically qualify for South African citizenship, and therefore are not entitled to be issued with South African birth certificates.
The argument by the parents was that the department’s refusal was unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.
The parents are Zimbabwean citizens currently staying in South Africa and have three children who were born between 2010 and 2016.
All their children were given unabridged certificates for non-citizens.
The parents had approached the department to apply for a South African birth certificate for each of the children as all the children were born in South Africa and didn’t have Zimbabwean citizenship or nationality.
They were told the only assistance they could get from the department was to be issued with unabridged birth certificates for non-South African citizens for their children to go to Zimbabwe so that the authorities there could issue them with Zimbabwean birth certificates.
The department said it was difficult to issue a South African birth certificate for citizenship where grounds for citizenship have not been established, as in this case, in terms of either birth or naturalisation.
Children born of permanent residents follow their parent’s status, the department said, adding the applicants were from Zimbabwe and had not renounced their citizenship.
Dual citizenship is prohibited in law and as such the applicant’s children are Zimbabwean citizens.
The department also said citizenship could not be conferred on children of permit holders for work approved for that purposes, or for study or holiday purposes.
The court said the basic principle of South African citizenship was that a child followed the citizenship or nationality of his or her parents.
If one parent was a South African citizen, the child would be a citizen by birth.
The court turned down the application and said it was best to register the children in Zimbabwe.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Zimbabwean parents in South Africa wanted SA birth certificates for their kids. But the court said no. Kids born in SA to foreign parents don't always get SA citizenship. The parents argued, but the court said their kids are Zimbabwean citizens. The kids were given non-South African birth certificates. The court said kids follow their parents' citizenship. So, the kids should be registered in Zimbabwe. The court said it's the law. So, the kids can't get SA birth certificates.

Children Born In South Africa To Zimbabwean Parents Not Automatically Entitled To SA citizenship

Foreigners applying for Zimbabwean citizenship on the basis of permanent residence will be required to pay US$5 000 cash for both adults and minors, reported <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/foreigners-to-pay-u5k-for-zim-citizenship/">The Herald</a>.
Foreigners seeking the restoration of citizenship after renouncing it will be required to pay US$1 000.
The new fees are stipulated in Statutory Instruments published in an Extraordinary Government Gazette on Tuesday, 30 January.
The fees are pegged in US dollars or equivalent at the prevailing interbank rate.
Statutory Instrument 7 of 2024, cited as Births and Deaths Registration (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (No.17) contains new fees for birth and death records.
It stipulates that the issuance of an initial birth certificate for persons six years or younger will remain free of charge while for those above six, it will be US$5 with an initial death certificate pegged at US$2.
A certified copy of any entry of birth or death certificate will cost US$5, while an extract from an entry relating to a birth or death or a certificate not provided for elsewhere will both cost US$2 respectively.
Altering a name in the register and correcting an error will cost US$5 while correcting an error originating from the Registrar-General’s Department will be free of charge.
Changing a name by notarial deed or by the RG will cost US$50 and US$5.
Authentication and re-registration (for legitimacy purposes) will both cost US$20. An urgent birth or death certificate will cost US$10, while an external birth certificate will cost US$15.
An initial non-citizen birth certificate and its duplicate will cost US$10 and US$25 respectively.
According to SI 8 of 2024, cited as the Citizenship (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (No.23), searching a set of records will now attract a US$10 charge while making a photocopy of any document or page will be US10 cents.
Issuance of a Temporary Travel Document will strictly be US$40 cash and there will be no other acceptable form of payment.
A certificate for confirmation of citizenship and a certificate of registration of citizenship by descent for both minors and adults will be US$50 each.
A certificate of renunciation of Zimbabwean citizenship will be US$200 while restoration of citizenship by descent will be US$50 while other than by descent, the cost will be US$1 000.
Initial registration as a citizen, of a foreign person who is applying based on permanent residence for both adults and minors, will strictly be US$5 000.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Foreigners To Pay U$5 000 For Zimbabwean Permanent Residence

Shona-speaking people in Kenya are deeply concerned about the ongoing discrimination against their communities by the Kenyan government.
The Shona-speakers arrived in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, from Zimbabwe over 60 years ago.
They arrived in Kenya as missionaries two years before the country gained independence in 1961.
Since then, the Kenyan government has classified them as stateless and could not clear them to go back to Zimbabwe since it could not recognise how they entered.
The Shona people are now trying to get citizenship as statelessness means that they cannot get identity documents.
Virginia Moyo, a Shona member living in Kinoo trading centre in Kikuyu, was born in the country by her Shona parents, says her daughter sat the KCSE exam at Secondary School, but the school declined to issue her with the results. Said Moyo:
<blockquote>We have suffered a lot due to the lack of IDs. We are worried since issues are getting tighter since we are resorting to educating our children at home just to know how to read, write and do calculations so they can be informed.</blockquote>
The population of the Shona people has reportedly grown to approximately 4,500 stateless people.
Failure to obtain IDs means that it is hard for them to resister businesses since they do not have Kenya Revenue Authority PIN numbers.
Even in death, statelessness follows the Shona people since IDs are asked for to enable a chief or an assistant chief to issue a burial permit.
A community member, James Koba, had this to say:
<blockquote>We do businesses such as knitting clothes, pullovers, mats, kiondos (shopping bags), carpentry and mechanics.
Some of these do not require an ID to start. When we see the government or county government wants to question how we pay rates, we close them and remain idlers.
Those of us who schooled in the 1980s and 90s, we interacted with locals and even learnt Kikuyu dialect in lower primary. We know Kikuyu just like we speak English, Kiswahili and we never dropped Shona. We are also fluent in it.
There are some of us who are married to Kikuyus. Their wives have helped them start businesses, register them, pay for licences and much more, and they have excelled.</blockquote>
Maria Budi, a member of the Gospel of God Church revealed that Zimbabwe cannot register them since immigration laws have changed, and they cannot also be allowed back. Some do not even know where they could go to start making a living.
Gospel of God Church (GGC) was founded by Baba Johane in early 1932 and was opened on October 1, 1932, at Mt Marimba in Zimbabwe.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/big-read/2019-07-15-decades-later-shona-speak-kikuyu-but-still-lack-ids/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Star</a></h4>

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