Chapter 2 - Citizenship There are three ways in which a person
can be a citizen: Citizenship by birth and descent are legal
rights for anyone who can prove the facts of birth and
parentage. Citizenship by naturalisation is not a legal right.
It can be granted or refused by the Minister of Home Affairs. A
person has to prove the place where he or she was born and the
date of birth. The place must be a place within South Africa.
Proving a birth can be very difficult if there is no birth
certificate, or if the person was not born in a hospital or
clinic. We have to think hard with the client about what kind of
proof might be available. Documents which can help are:
Affidavits can be made by people who helped the mother at the
birth or who were neighbours at the time of the birth. However
the Department of Home Affairs is not easily satisfied if the
only proof is affidavits so try to find some other kind of
documents which can be attached to the affidavits. One parent is
a South African and the other parent is a