Not stateless any more

DECADES: HOME AFFAIRS FINALLY ISSUES WOMAN'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE

- Tania Broughton

GroundUp: Primrose Modisane, who has endured a life of statelessness and a decades-long battle with the department of home affairs (DHA), has finally received her South African birth certificate.

High Court in Pretoria Judge Mandla Mbongwe ruled in April that home affairs must issue Modisane, who was represented in court by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), with a birth certificate within 30 days.

But this did not happen. Only five months later and after Modisane, LHR and retired constitutional court judge Johann Kriegler scheduled a media briefing to publicly shame DHA on Tuesday, did the department finally comply with the court order.

Modisane will now be able to apply for a South African identity document allowing her to vote, access grants and enrol her children in school.

GroundUp previously reported on the plight of Modisane, who was born in Zimbabwe but is entitled to South African citizenship through her grandmother, who is still alive.