long period of time and thus barred from transferring their citizenship to their daughter. This was confirmed by the Cuban Embassy in South Africa. Because she was rendered Stateless, Daniella’s parents turned to section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act and approached the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to register her as a South African citizen by birth. DHA did not agree and matter was referred to the High Court. Court ruled in favour of Daniella declaring her a citizen by birth. DHA did not agree with their interpretation of section 2(2), and proceeded to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal, where they settled the matter, agreed to register Daniella as a South African citizen by birth and come up with regulations for section 2(2) by March 2018. Loss, deprivation and renunciation of citizenship 21. The Citizenship Act (section 6, 8 and 10) provides for the loss and deprivation of South African Citizenship of children without safeguards against statelessness. Acquisition of citizenship through naturalisation: 22. Section 4(3) of the South African Citizenship Act allows a child born in South Africa to parents with no citizenship or permanent status to apply for South African citizenship, but only once the child becomes an adult at age 18 and the birth is registered. This means that such a child will remain stateless until he is an adult and even then the application is subject to the discretion of the Minister. In addition, there is no form to allow children to apply for this status. Furthermore, the application of this section is currently limited to children born after the provision was enacted in 2013, meaning it currently excludes children like Rudzani (an LHR client) who was born in 2007. Rudzani was born in Johannesburg to a Congolese mother. Although his mother registered his birth with the South African authorities, she did not report his birth to the Congolese embassy. Shortly after his birth she abandoned Rudzani without having ensured that he had either Congolese or South African citizenship. Foreign children are issued with birth certificates, but this does not give them South African citizenship. Because of his mother’s disappearance, he is unable to prove his link to the DRC in order to obtain citizenship. The requirement that the parents of the child have documentation and discrimination in relation to children born out of wedlock: 23. Regulations 3, 4 and 5 of the Birth and Deaths Registration Act require a child’s parents to produce a valid identity document or passport with a valid permit in order to register a child’s birth. Furthermore, Regulation 12 of the BDRA allows only mothers to register the births of children born out of wedlock even if the father is documented. This leaves the children of all undocumented mothers undocumented and at risk of statelessness. For example, Nkateko, aged 6, was born in South Africa. His mother is undocumented but has a claim to South African citizenship. His father is a South African citizen with a valid identity document. Nkateko has a claim to South African citizenship, because of his South African father. However, the Birth and Deaths Registration Act does not allow children to be registered if their mothers are undocumented. It further bars single fathers from registering their children without the mother giving her consent and providing her documents. For as long as his South African citizenship remains unrecognised, he is stateless. Restrictive time limit 24. Strict requirements under the law that all births in the country must be registered within 30 days are a concern. While the late registration of births is possible, it is subject to the payment of an administrative fee and compliance with prescribed requirements. Failure on either count can