Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister and members, the Bill has brought about some significant changes which we supported so keenly in the committee. Its intentions are good; it is purpose driven. However, there are serious concerns that make this Bill unattractive. The DA has made profound contributions and some positive changes, which were ignored by the committee and the department.
Submissions by the public, for example, the Lawyers for Human Rights, the Law Society of South Africa and others, were ignored during the process of public hearings. This would have advised them to try to mitigate some of the challenges that make this Bill a very unconstitutional one. These include, but are not limited to, the provision that any child born of a parent or parents, who are not South Africans, cannot become a legitimate citizen until he or she is 18 years old - I will explain this hon Minister. This is in complete contradiction to the Constitution of the country.
We have proposed the qualifying threshold to either be 17 or 16 years of age, otherwise this becomes discriminatory. A child born in South Africa, whether it's a foreigner or a local, automatically becomes part of the society. Those children who are born by foreigners become friends with locals. They go to the same preschool, primary school and, eventually, to the same secondary or high school.
Why must this child be treated differently from other children? This does not assist our endeavour to integrate our communities. This Bill is in contempt of section 10, 11 and 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and that is Act 108 of 1996.
Ukukhumbuza wena ke, mhlekazi, ngemvume yakho Sihlalo, sinoMgaqo-siseko ekufuneka ukhusele wonke umntu okweli lizwe. [To remind you Sir, through you Chair, we have a Constitution that is supposed to protect everyone who is in this country.]
This clause is also in conflict with sections 20, 28 and 29 of the Constitution of the Republic. It is also in conflict with the Births and Deaths Registration Act and the Children's Act. [Interjections.]
The most problematic of them all is the proposal that any South African citizen shall cease to be a South African citizen if he or she engages in a war under the flag of a country that the government of the Republic does not support.
I want to clarify one thing here, Minister. You said that South Africans will not be affected, but those who obtain their citizenship through naturalisation would be affected. In fact, section 6(1) of this Bill speaks to all people. It is only on the appeals that those who are South African can appeal, but those who are naturalised lose their citizenship completely. That must be corrected.
Does the South African government officially support any wars? Do we have a list of wars that we support or not? At what stage is the support or otherwise proclaimed? How will the general public know that such wars are being supported or not by the Republic? Chefs, nurses, doctors, security personnel, who work anywhere else in the world, are in danger if this Parliament passes this Bill.
I do not know why this Act should belong to Home Affairs in any case. This matter could be addressed by the Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Regulation of Certain Activities in Country of Armed Conflict Act, Act 27 of 2006.
If this Bill goes through as is, it will render citizens stateless because some have renounced their citizenship of the countries where they come from by choice, because they want to be South Africans. Why should we continue to suppress and penalise them for choosing this country? [Interjections.]
We have sought some legal opinion and it has advised that this Bill is unconstitutional. [Interjections.] This negates the good work that Home Affairs does, and further entrenches the laws of the dark days of apartheid. To mitigate such a notion, the Minister must take my advice and withdraw clause 6 of the proposed Amending Bill. Clause 6 of the principal Act should rather take precedence so that ...
... singalungisi lo mhlathi, uhlale ulola hlobo ululo ... ndiyakucenga, Mphathiswa. [Kwaphela ixesha.] [Kwaqhwatywa.] [... we do not amend this clause and leave it as it is. I appeal to you, Minister.] [Time expired.] [Applause.]]