‘Does not have the right to’ citizenship or nationality of any other country The phrase ‘has no right to such citizenship or nationality’ is rather self-evident. Use of the term ‘the right’ excludes any discretionary procedure. Therefore, section 2(2) grants nationality to any child born in South Africa who is not automatically granted another nationality from birth and who does not qualify for any nondiscretionary application for nationality. This being said, the distinction between ‘does not have’ and ‘has no right to’ is somewhat confusing in practice: in all cases where a child does not have the right to another citizenship/nationality, he also does not have another citizenship/nationality. Situation report: section 2(2)in practice In spite of South Africa’s commendable legislation intended to prevent statelessness from birth, the right to South African citizenship for those born stateless on the territory is rarely, if ever, realised in practice. This is, in large part, due to the administrative procedures for registering children born to foreign nationals in South Africa. Birth registration is the critical point at which citizenship by birth is assessed and granted in South Africa. According to the Identification Act 68 of 1997, only South African citizens and permanent residents are given identity numbers (see sections 3 and 7(1)). Under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 and its regulations, a child born in South Africa will only be entered into the population register (and consequently given an ID number) if at least one parent is a citizen or permanent resident. Section 5(3) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act: In the case of a non-South African citizen who sojourns temporarily in the Republic, particulars obtained from documents [relating to births and deaths] shall not be included in the population register and the issuing of a certificate in respect of such particulars is the registration thereof.121 There is simply no provision in the Births and Deaths Registration Act or its regulations for giving an ID number to a child whose parents are not citizens or permanent residents but who qualifies for South African citizenship under section 2(2) of the Citizenship Act. In practice, the result is that children who are intended to benefit from section 2(2) – those most at risk of statelessness because of 121 See also regulation 8(5). 86 Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide