R e c o g n i s ed R e f u g e e ( S e c t i o n 2 4 P e r m i t )

This means that :

A refugee can apply for permanent residence if he or she has been living in South Africa on a refugee status permit for a minimum of five consecutive years.143 For a recognized refugee to receive a permanent residence permit, the standing committee for refugee affairs must have certified that that person will remain a refugee “indefinitely.”

On March 30, 2004, the Standing Committee for Refugee Affairs published a decision intended to circumscribe the conditions under which certification shall be issued, namely: “…Where the appellant is likely to remain a refugee for the foreseeable future and the “foreseeable future” should be one year.”

Once the South African government has awarded you refugee status. The government will issue you with an identity card which shows that you are a refugee. You will be issued with a renewable Refugee Permit which is referred to as a Section 24 Permit.

You will be entitled to apply for a United Nations Travel Document tha tallows you to travel to any country except your country of origin. Should you travel to your country of origin for any reason, the South African government will stop recognising you as a person in need of protection. You will therefore cease to be a refugee. By voluntarily going back to your country of origin, you will be indirectly saying that you are safe there, hence you will no longer deserve protection or refugee status. Refugees have the right to work and enjoy most of the rights in the South African Constitution except the right to vote.

It is possible for refugees to eventually get a South African passport after a long period of time, which will entitle you to travel anywhere in the world including your country of origin should your fear of harm disappear. This will also entitle you to have a South African identity card and to be able to vote.


Children born abroad with one South African parent have right to citizenship – ConCourt

  • a seven-year legal battle fought by Lawyers for Human Rights on behalf of four people born to SA parents outside the country.
  • The case centred on the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2010 and how it applied to people born outside of South Africa before January 2013.
  • Justice Sisi Khampepe slammed the Department of Home Affairs, describing its conduct in the matter as “brazenly incompetent”.

Children born in other countries are entitled to South African citizenship as long as one parent is South African, the Constitutional Court has ruled.

A seven-year legal battle is finally over and the court has ruled that the Department of Home Affairs must immediately recognise as citizens Yamika Chisuse, born in 1989 in Malawi; Martin Ambrose, born in 1970 in Zimbabwe; Amanda Tilma, born in 1969 in Zimbabwe; and Emma Dullart, born in 2006 in Accra.

The ruling by the court has cleared up any confusion about the country’s citizenship by descent laws, which were interpreted by Home Affairs to mean that nobody born in other countries after 2013 qualified for citizenship, irrespective of whether their parents were South Africans, GroundUp reported.

Represented by Lawyers for Human Rights, the applicants started negotiations with the department in 2013 and first went to court in 2016.

The department failed to file opposing papers and it was finally set down to be heard in May 2019.

The department asked for a further postponement, but this was refused and the matter was heard unopposed.

The applicants claimed that the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2010 (which came into effect in 2013) was not being applied retrospectively, resulting in “wholesale deprivation of citizenship rights overnight”.

They said the provisions of the Act did not provide for anyone born outside of South Africa to a South African parent before January 2013 to obtain citizenship.

‘Risks of statelessness’

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled in their favour, declaring sections of the act unconstitutional.

But the Constitutional Court has now declined to ratify this, saying that the act was misinterpreted.

In a unanimous ruling handed down this week, Judge Sisi Khampepe said the issue surrounded the wording in the act which stated “any person who is born”.

This was interpreted to mean only those born after 2013.

The judge said the only reasonable and constitutional compliant construction of the text was that it included all persons, born yesterday, today and tomorrow.

“An interpretation that favours a prospective-only operation in this instance effectively abolishes existing rights.

“Moreover, a finding that the section only applies prospectively would have the effect of excluding not only the vast majority of those who had acquired citizenship by descent, but also those who, like the applicants in this matter, are excluded from the ambit of the section merely by the date of their birth,” said Khampepe.

Khampepe said:

This interpretation would also expose some individuals to the risks of statelessness and it would be contrary to the spirit and purpose of the legislation, which seeks to widen the pathways to South African citizenship rather than narrow them.

‘Brazenly incompetent’

The judge labelled the department’s conduct “brazenly incompetent”. While it had belatedly, before the Constitutional Court, conceded to an interpretation of the act that would recognise the applicants as citizens, it had continued to oppose the application on a “factual basis”.

“The ordinary rule is that costs follow the results and the applicants have been unsuccessful in confirming the order of invalidity.

“But clearly this case encompassed more than that – it was about vindicating the citizenship rights of the applicants who have been dragged from the proverbial pillar to post by the government’s intransigence, indifference and inefficiency.

“The applicants have been successful in vindicating these rights and are entitled to their costs for the significant and prolonged litigation.

“The documents must be issued as soon as possible. They have already suffered greatly by the dilatory conduct of the government and there is no reason why they should continue to be at their mercy.”

Liesl Muller of Lawyers for Human Rights said the case was about one simple thing – dignity.

“The application was opposed to the bitter end, this despite two of the applicants providing DNA evidence of their link to a South African parent and two others having government-issued proof of their links.

“Our clients expressed overwhelming relief … It may have been a seven-year legal battle; for them it has been a life-long struggle.”


Mauritius immigration and residence 2020: The key program changes at a glance

Given the deteriorating socio-political and economic situation in SA, the number of South African families securing a Plan B in Mauritius is increasing exponentially in 2020. The following changes announced by the Mauritian Government as part of their Coronavirus budget speech makes it far easier for South Africans to emigrate to the island nation:

1. REDUCED INVESTMENT REQUIREMENT: In order to obtain an Occupation Permit, investors will now only have to invest $50,000 (R869,000 as at 22 June 2020); previously, the requirement for obtaining a long-term residence permit in the island nation was $100,000 (R1.74 million).
2. VISA DURATION: The validity period of the Mauritius Occupation Permit (OP) has been increased from 3 years to 10 years.
3. PATH TO PERMANENT RESIDENCY: Going forward the work and residency permits will be a single consolidated document. Those who have held a Mauritius Residency Permit for 3 years will become eligible to apply for Permanent Residency Status, with the PR permit being issued for 20 years (previously 10 years) in future.
4. NO SPOUSAL WORK PERMIT APPLICATION REQUIRED: Subject to the primary applicant holding a work permit for Mauritius, their spouse will be eligible to work in the country without an additional work permit application being required.
5. PARENTS NOW ELIGIBLE: Subject to migrant investors being able to prove adequate means for economic self-sufficiency, the Mauritian government also allows them to bring their parents to the island as dependents.
6. NEW PROPERTY INVESTMENT OPTIONS AVAILABLE: Whereas investors formerly had to invest in either the Real Estate Schemes (RES), Integrated Resort Schemes (IRS) or the Property Development Schemes, leaving a lot less scope for personal tastes and development requirements, foreign investors now have the option of purchasing a plot of land of up to 2,100m2 in a new “Smart City” and developing it for bespoke residential use. They also now have the option of purchasing a pre-owned apartment in buildings with at least 3 storeys.
7. REDUCED PROPERTY INVESTMENT REQUIREMENT FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCY: Another key regulatory change pertains to the Mauritius Permanent Residency route: Whereas previously investors seeking immediate permanent residency (PR) status in Mauritius had to invest a minimum amount of $500,000 in a government approved property development, the minimum investment amount has now been lowered to only $375,000, placing second permanent residency within reach for a far larger percentage of South African families.
8. MAURITIAN MORTGAGES FOR SOUTH AFRICANS LAUNCHED: As of July 2020, Mauritian banks will also make home loan facilities available to South African investors, subject to a deposit of 60% being made. The prime lending rate in Mauritius is currently only 3.35%.