POLITICS

Sunday Times' attack on Phumzile Van Damme libellous - DA

Marius Redelinghuys says circumstances around incorrect registration of MP's birth were completely outside of her control

DA to lay complaint with Press Ombudsman over libellous report on Van Damme citizenship

29 June 2014

The DA will lay a complaint with the Press Ombudsman against the Sunday Times following its report on the citizenship of DA National Spokesperson Phumzile Van Damme today. The report is opportunistic at best, and libellous at worst (see Sunday Times report).

The circumstances surrounding her birth and the registration of accompanying documentation cannot be attributed to her and was entirely beyond her control. Labelling Van Damme a "liar and a fraud" is defamatory and gutter journalism.

Van Damme only became aware of the potential questions around her citizenship when approached by the Sunday Times. Naturally this is a deeply personal matter that is greatly concerning to her. Van Damme would like to get to the bottom of the matter but has not had time to do so extensively, making her reaction to the story, out of necessity, incomplete.

Van Damme is a South African citizen and possesses the necessary documentation to support this, including a birth certificate and a valid identity document. These documents were made available to the paper. She was also under the impression that she was born outside Nelspruit, in what is now Mpumalanga, as reflected in her birth certificate.

After being presented with the allegations by the Sunday Times, Van Damme categorically stated that she has not had an opportunity to investigate the circumstances of her birth and registration having accepted the account of her mother. Van Damme informed the paper that she would investigate this herself.

Van Damme's recent personal investigation revealed that her birth was registered at Home Affairs in Pietermaritzburg in the mid-1990s. A Home Affairs official told Van Damme's mother that she should register Van Damme based on the understanding that she was born in South Africa and was entitled to South African citizenship. The official informed Van Damme's mother that the Department of Home Affairs was dealing with a huge case load of those exiled by Apartheid now returning to claim their South African citizenship, and since her family fell into that group, it would be easier to register Van Damme as born in South Africa. Van Damme's grandmother left South Africa in the 1950s to escape Apartheid and settled in Swaziland. 

Van Damme's mother took the advice from the Home Affairs official in good faith, given the confusion that characterised Home Affairs during the transition.

It is regrettable that Van Damme's mother did not inform herself of the relevant rules for registering citizenship, and that Van Damme was registered based on birth and not because she was entitled to citizenship through her biological father and grandparents. Van Damme's mother also acknowledges that she was too scared to return to Home Affairs to correct this detail.

At no stage during this process or thereafter was Van Damme involved or informed of the circumstances surrounding her birth or registration. 

It is apparent that Van Damme was a victim of circumstances beyond her control, an untenable situation of which she only became aware following the Sunday Times query.

Van Damme is a South African Citizen. Her status is protected by Section 20 of the Constitution. She is entitled to South African citizenship regardless, through her biological father and grandparents. Van Damme and the DA will protect this status vigorously.

Section 20 of the Constitution protects citizens from arbitrary deprivation of citizenship, a right enshrined in the Bill of Rights not in the least because of the arbitrary actions of the Apartheid government in this regard. 

Both Van Damme and the DA have acted in good faith at all times, and for the Sunday Times to claim anything to the contrary as a matter of fact is dangerous territory for a newspaper to tread in.

Statement issued by Marius Redelinghuys MP, DA National Spokesperson, June 29 2014

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