Statelessness in Southern Africa children (only) who have “associations by way of descent, residence or otherwise” with Zambia, though it provides no specific entitlement in case of stateless children.97 In some countries, acquiring citizenship by naturalisation on the basis of long residence is relatively straightforward, at least in theory. More than 20 African countries provide on paper for a right to naturalise based on residence of five years; though in some countries the period is longer. In southern Africa, the majority of countries go with a ten year period to be able to apply for naturalisation, some raising the period to that length in recent years.98 South Africa provides a two-step process. A person must first become a permanent resident, a process which usually takes five years (except when married to a citizen); a further five years’ residence is required to become a citizen.99 Conditions applying to persons wishing to naturalise vary, but often leave a high level of discretion to the authorities, which may allow for discrimination and fail to provide access to nationality for individuals in need of protection, including stateless persons and refugees. Naturalisation conditions often include very vaguely defined components requiring “good character” or related to integration to the local community. For example, in Malawi, a person wishing to naturalise or register as a Malawian citizen must satisfy the responsible minister that, among other things, he or she is “of good character” and “would be a suitable citizen of Malawi”.100 In general, such restrictions should be limited to more objective requirements in relation to a clean criminal record. Botswana requires knowledge of Setswana or another language spoken by a “tribal community” in Botswana.101 Again, such language requirements may be reasonable to ensure the integration of new citizens, but they should not be overly onerous, especially for those naturalising as adults. Even where there are no such rules on paper, cultural criteria may be applied. In Swaziland, for example, persons who are not of Swazi ethnic origin often find it very difficult to obtain citizenship.102 In the case of prevention of statelessness, a requirement to renounce other nationalities before naturalising can be particularly problematic: in southern Africa, this is required by the laws of Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Amendments to the South African Citizenship Act in 2010 added a requirement that a person applying for naturalisation must satisfy the minister that they are either a citizen of a country that allows dual nationality, or that, if their presumed other nationality is with a country that does not allow dual nationality, they have renounced that nationality.103 If a person has renounced another nationality as part of the process of applying for naturalisation and the application is then denied, they may remain stateless for a significant period of time because they are unable to reacquire the former nationality. This means that where requirements to renounce other nationalities exist, safeguards should be built in to ensure that persons renouncing one citizenship to acquire another do not become stateless, even temporarily. Perhaps most importantly, such provisions could adversely affect asylum seekers and refugees or their children, who may not be requested to contact the authorities of their country of origin. There are also persons who, while they have not sought or acquired refugee status, cannot be reasonably expected to acquire proof that they have renounced their previous nationality. This could either be because the administrative authorities in their country are non-functional or inaccessible, or because they are stateless. It is desirable to exempt similar categories of persons from a requirement to renounce their citizenship. It is important that the naturalisation process also provide that minor children resident with the person naturalised acquire citizenship at the same time. While Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa provide for children to be naturalised, this is a separate application procedure, subject to its own conditions, and discretionary. Other countries have no explicit provision. This leaves such children 97 Zambia Citizenship Act, 1975, section 12. Namibia in 2010 and Mozambique in 2003 raised the period to ten from five years. 99 South African Citizenship Act (No. 88 of 1995), section 5. 100 Citizenship Act, section 13(1)(c) and (d) and section 21(1)(c) and (d). 101 Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1995, section 5, amending section 12 of the Citizenship Act, 1982. 102 See, for example, annual human rights reports of the U.S. Department of State. 103 South African Citizenship Act, 1995, as amended 2010, section (5)(1)(h). This may lead some individuals to become stateless in order to apply for South African citizenship. 98 21