Bronwen Manby even if they had never sought to claim that right. A number of court cases successfully challenged these provisions; without effect, however, on the general practice.21 In 2001, the law was amended to require a person with a foreign citizenship to prove renunciation of that citizenship under the relevant foreign law, and not only (as had previously been the case) to complete a simple declaration.22 A six-month deadline was set, expiring on 6 January 2002. In February 2003, the Supreme Court—which by 2002 had been augmented by judges known to support the government—confirmed the registrar-general’s interpretation that this amendment required a potential claim to a foreign citizenship to be renounced, not only where citizenship documents had in fact been obtained.23 The High Court, however, continued to issue judgments against the registrar-general on the grounds that individuals had in fact no foreign citizenship to renounce.24 The vast majority of persons affected by these developments were farm workers and others with a parent or grandparent born in a neighbouring country. Protests from the region about the impact on the descendants of migrant workers who had never claimed the citizenship of their parents led to some concessions. In 2003 the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act was amended again to allow people who were born in Zimbabwe, but whose parents came from another country in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) as farm labourers, mine workers, domestic employees, or “in any other unskilled occupation”, to apply for “confirmation” of their citizenship of Zimbabwe (which for those born before 1996 had in theory been acquired automatically at birth) and at the same time sign a form renouncing their foreign citizenship (without the need to obtain any documentation from the other SADC country).25 Nonetheless, administrative requirements continued to block those with connections to neighbouring countries from gaining recognition of Zimbabwean citizenship; while birth registration remained difficult to access for children born out of wedlock or to parents whose own citizenship was not documented.26 Another controversial round of parliamentary and presidential elections were held in March 2008. The MDC’s presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, was (after weeks of delay) officially reported to have received the largest share of the vote in the first round of the presidential ballot; in the face of widespread violence against MDC supporters, he boycotted 21 Carr v. Registrar-General, 2000 (2) ZLR 433 (S); Petho v. Minister of Home Affairs, Zimbabwe and Another [2002] ZWSC 80; Tsvangirai v. Registrar General and Others (HC 12092/01) [2002] ZWHHC 29; Todd v. Registrar General of Citizenship and Another (HC 55/2002) [2002] ZWHHC 76; Ricarudo Manyere v. Registrar General (HH 87/02), 27 February 2002; Job Sibanda v. Registrar-General of Citizenship and Others (HH 3626/02); See also Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, “The Path to Disenfranchisement: 2002 General Elections”, Pambazuka News, Issue 58, 21 March 2002. 22 Citizenship of Zimbabwe Amendment Act No 12 of 2001, section 3(c), amending section 9(7) of the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act, chapter 4:01; see also General Notice 584 of 2002: Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter 4:01]: Renunciation and Proof of Foreign Citizenship: Governing Rules, 22 November 2002. Act No.12 of 2001 also amended Section 13 of the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act to reduce from seven to five years the period after which citizenship by registration would lapse if a person was absent from the country. 23 Registrar General of Citizenship v. Todd (58/02/01) [2003] ZWSC 4, 27 February 2003. 24 Lewis Uriri v. Registrar General of Citizenship and another (Harare High Court, Case No. 7128/03); Trevor Ncube v. Registrar-General (Harare High Court, Case No. 7316/06). 25 Citizenship of Zimbabwe Amendment Act No. 12 of 2003, introducing section 9A to the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act. 26 Zimamoza Institute, ‘Ethnic Cleansing In Zimbabwe: The Origins and Objectives of the Zimamoza Institute’ (Harare, Zimbabwe, 2007); Justice for Children Trust, ‘Birth Registration of Children in Zimbabwe’ (Harare, Zimbabwe, October 2007); Rumbidzai Dube, ‘A Right or a Privilege’ (Harare, Zimbabwe: Research and Advocacy Unit, 2008); Rumbidzai Dube, ‘Identity, Citizenship, and the Registrar General: The Politicking of Identity in Zimbabwe’ (Harare, Zimbabwe: Research and Advocacy Unit, 2012). 6 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/1- © 2019 Author(s)