Chairperson, at the outset of the Second Reading debate, Cope would like to express its serious concern about the constitutionality of section 6 of the South African Citizen Amendment Bill.
It would appear that section 6 is in conflict with section 20 of the Constitution which stipulates that, and I quote:
No citizen may be deprived of citizenship.
This makes citizenship an inalienable right, therefore, Cope calls on the President to meet his constitutional responsibility and use section 79, Assent to Bills, of the Constitution of South Africa to send it back to the National Assembly for correction or to the Constitutional Court for a decision.
He should not assent to it and sign the Bill until he has such a decision. Should the President fail to do this, then Cope will have no option but to abstain from voting.
However, the remainder of the Bill addresses issues such as husband, wife and spouse. Couples married by customary or foreign laws are now recognised. Defining a major as one who is 18 years old and not 21 years old will mean that younger people will have to take up adult responsibility much earlier than before.
The Bill also addresses the issue of people giving birth in transit on a ship or plane. The place of birth of such a child will be determined by where in the world the carrier is registered. A woman giving birth, for example, to a child on her way to Cuba in a Russian aeroplane would register the child as having been born in Russia.
Foreigners who receive exemption from visa requirements and who are granted the unconditional right to entry for an unspecified period in terms of 10 (a) of the Immigration Act and section 31(3) (a) or (c) of the same Act, will be able to take up permanent residency in South Africa because they would have been determined to have been lawfully admitted to the Republic.
As such, children born to a married couple where at least one parent had been lawfully admitted to South Africa will be regarded as South African citizens. The converse will also apply.
The Bill gives powers to the Minister to recognise both customary marriages as well as marriages concluded in terms of the laws of a foreign country, provided that the Minister is satisfied with the information documented by both partners. Where the Minister is not satisfied she can call for further information.
The issue of naturalisation is also dealt with in detail. Under exceptional circumstances the Minister may grant a certificate of naturalisation to an applicant who does not comply with subsection 1 (c) relating to residence in South Africa. We will have to keep a watchful eye on this.
A bit of tightening of the principal Act occurs in section 7 of the Bill. Persons deprived of citizenship under this section or section 9, will have to surrender their certificates or face possible imprisonment for up to five years and possibly a fine.
However, corrupt officials will always find ways of using these provisions in ways not intended by Parliament. [Time expired.] The Minister should be alert to these challenges and should set monitoring systems in place to guard against fraud. I thank you.