South African with N.Z. ties must go home

Press, 8 March 1978, Page 2

South African with N.Z. ties must go home

A South African accountant of New Zealand descent has been deprived of New Zealand citizenship through what may have been a legislative mistake.

Mr A. D. Livingstone left Durban six months ago. He left his wife and two children behind, intending to bring them to New Zealand to start a new life as soon as he was established. A job was assured by a Christchurch firm and with New Zealand family connections going back to 1854 he thought he would be assured of permanent residence. The New Zealand authorities did not lead him to believe otherwise. It was not until after his arrival that things began to get complicated and the chapter of misfortunes he has encountered look set to send him back to South Africa on Friday. Before his arrival, Mr Livingstone wrote to 92 New Ze.aland firms to get the job he believed would clinch his permanent residence. He was offered employment by J. Cameron Lewis, Ltd, and has worked with the firm since his arrival.

In spite of this employment he was refused permanent residency on what he understood were the grounds that he was not a chartered accountant with a university degree. He had qualified after completing a three-year course at a South African technical college. Mr Livingstone stayed in New Zealand after this setback in the hope that he would be granted citizenship under the new Citizenship Act, 1977. He was disappointed again. His citizenship has been prevented by a clause in the act which stipulates that citizenship may be granted only to persons, born on or after January 1, 1949, to parents possessing New Zealand citizenship.

Mr Livingstone was bom in 1939.

Mr Livingstone’s paternal great-grandmother was bom in New Zealand in 1854 and his grandfather was bom here, too, but his father was bom in South Africa.

Although his father had New Zealand citizenship, Mr Livingstone could not inherit this because inherited citizenship can only pass as far as one generation. His mother was a New Zealand citizen through marriage to his father but this is negated because Mr Livingstone was bom 10 years too early. Mr Livingstone’s case has become a test for the new act.

According to Mr D. A. Kerr, Assistant Secretary of Internal Affairs, the previous act governing citizenship had allowed citizenship to persons born outside the country only if their fathers had been New Zealand citizens.

While the Citizenship Act, 1977, aimed at enabling citizenship to pass through the female family line, it was not known if Parliament had intended it to become so restrictive through the date of birth stipulation. “It could be that Parliament meant the act to do this,” said Mr Kerr. On the other hand, it might not have.

“There are probably other people in Mr Livingstone’s position,” he said. The department was preparing' a report on Mr Livingstone’s case for the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr Highet) who might then decide to amend the legislation.

“The question which will be examined by Mr Highet is whether Parliament was fully aware in making the 1977 legislation that it would not apply to persons who became citizens by descent through their mothers if those persons were born before 1949. “If the Government decides to backdate the legislation, a bill would have to be brought to amend it.” Mr Highet could not grant any dispensation to Mr Livingstone because it was beyond his legal powers to do so. Mr Kerr said Mr Livingstone had been invited to renew his visitor’s permit for another six months until the situation could be looked into and clarified but there could be no guarantee that the legislation would be amended.

But for Mr Livingstone, time has almost run out.

“It is just too risky to stay,” he said. He has not seen his family for six months and he said his wife was feeling the strain of the difficult situation.

He was reluctant to put further strain on his family by staying here for another six months but could not afford to bring the rest of the family out on the chance they would be able, to stay. Mr Livingstone has a number of relatives in New Zealand and has found the country very much to his liking.