Exploring the Interface Between Birth Registration and Citizenship Determination: A Scoping Study in Seven Countries in Southern Africa Court. A final key legal safeguard to prevent statelessness is a provision by which Namibian citizenship is accorded for a child born on the territory who would be otherwise stateless (Section 16). The new procedures specifically in Section 16 of the Civil Registration and Identification Act were a response to previous ad hoc procedures carried out by various administrative agencies that provided services to citizens and other permanent residents and therefore needed to apply and interpret citizenship provisions in the Constitution and the Namibian Citizenship Act. Section 4(1)(d) of the Constitution states that a child is a citizen by birth if one of the parents is a Namibian citizen or “ordinarily resident” in Namibia. The concept of “ordinarily resident” is neither defined in the constitution nor in the Namibian Citizenship Act. This has given rise to different interpretations by government agencies. Moreover, it has proved difficult for public and private entities to determine the citizenship of a child, as the data captured on the birth certificate was not sufficient to do so (reflecting only the country of birth of the parents and not citizenship). This led to the introduction of a Namibian and non-Namibian birth certificate in the mid-2000s. In 2016, a Supreme Court ruling (de Wilde vs. Minister of Home Affairs35) found that article 4(1)(d) must be given a generous and purposive interpretation that advances the interests of a child born in Namibia rather than an interpretation that limits such interests and that each case related to “ordinarily resident” must be considered on its own merits. As a result, since 2019, all cases of children born to parents who are “ordinarily resident” in the country have been evaluated by a committee consisting of staff members from the Department of Civil Registration and the Directorate for Citizenship and Passports. When the 2024 Civil Registration and Identification Act comes into effect, this citizenship determination will be made with the assistance of legal counsel within the ministry and may be appealed (Section 77 and 78 of the Civil Registration and Identification Act) to an administrative tribunal of experienced personnel and to the courts. Botswana In 2024, the government of Botswana adopted the Birth and Death Registration Act, 2024 and amendments to the Citizenship Act36 to strengthen the processes and protections related to citizenship at birth registration.37 The new act and amendments, which are not yet in force, align birth registration processes with the Botswana’s Children Act38 2009 (Section 12), which states that a birth certificate is proof of citizenship and that citizenship of the parents must be indicated on the birth certificate.39 Thus, the civil registration authorities are implicitly empowered to make a citizenship determination. As part of these new processes, Botswana will allow undocumented parents to submit sworn statements in lieu of documentation, and will institute a clear appeal process, allowing people to submit an appeal to the minister responsible for civil registration if unsatisfied with the citizenship determination. South Africa There is no mention of citizenship in the South African Birth and Death Registration Act, 1992. The Regulations on the Registration of Births and Deaths, 2014,40 set out different procedures for children of citizens, permanent residents, migrants and refugees.41 Regulation 6 implicitly authorizes the Director General of Home Affairs to make a citizenship determination, stating that where it appears that the child is non-South African citizen, the director general may apply 18