Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi says a clearer definition of statelessness must underpin revisions to the Citizenship Act, which together with the Refugee Act and the Immigration Act are under a fundamental review by his department.

He said in an interview on Wednesday that there was a common misconception that a child born in SA had the right to apply for citizenship when they turned 18 years on the grounds that without that, they would be stateless. However, they are actually citizens of the country of their parents...