However, individuals whose permits expired prior to the lockdown were unable to regularise their status during the pandemic, and as the pandemic winds down asylum seekers and refugees have been directed to an online renewal system and are facing considerable difficulties with renewals.41 The blanket extension has been extended to 30 April 2022, and DHA has indicated that RROs will resume full services from 2 May 2022. Concerns remain that a significant number of individuals have been left out of the online renewal process unable to renew their immigration documentation and thus be unable to register the births of their children. This includes individuals excluded from blanket extensions, those who have encountered barriers when trying to access the online renewal system, as well as new asylum applicants. III. Administrative - Procedural Barriers in accessing citizenship 18. The definition of a stateless person in article 1 of the 1954 UN Convention includes two main manifestations of statelessness: the law, and the implementation of the law. According to UNHCR the deciding factor is not the law, but whether the State recognises a person as a citizen. Where a state refuses without reasons to recognise a person’s citizenship status, that person may be stateless if they have no other nationalities. Just administrative action (or due process) in nationality related matters is therefore crucial to implementation of the law and is therefore as crucial as the content of the law. 19. One of the main causes of statelessness in South Africa is a lack of just administrative action (due process) in government decisions regarding an individual's citizenship. Lack of due process affects decisions to both grant and to revoke citizenship. It also affects decisions to issue documentation regarding birth registration and citizenship. Existing South African laws on the right to nationality are either not implemented by the state or are implemented in an unlawful way without regard to the prescribed formal procedures resulting in violation of nationality rights. In addition, recourse mechanisms for administrative failure are insufficient, or inaccessible to the average person. 20. Excessive and unfettered discretion in nationality decisions is detrimental to the right to nationality and has increased the occurrence of statelessness in South Africa. The prevention and eradication of statelessness in South Africa cannot be achieved without just administrative action (due process) in nationality matters. 21. The following examples are drawn from respective practices and are illustrative of how the barriers manifest practically. a) Refused birth registration / citizenship applications: A parent approaches the Department of Home Affairs to register the birth of their new born child. The government official refuses to accept their application and tells them to leave without providing them with a written decision, written reasons for the rejection, nor an opportunity to make representations or appeal the decision. This can happen repeatedly over the span of months and years. The child is not recognised as a citizen by the state and is denied access to their citizenship, even though the law allows them to be registered and recognised as 41 ‘Refugees struggle to renew their asylum documents with Home Affairs online system’ GroundUp, 4 February 2022, https://www.groundup.org.za/article/refugees-struggle-with-home-affairs-online-system/ 8