§ Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he will investigate the causes and circumstances of the arrest in South Africa of a British citizen, Mr. Sydney Kitching, about whom information has been supplied to his Department by the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme; and if he will use his good offices in rendering him such aid as is necessary in the preparation for his defence.
§ Mr. P. ThomasMr. Sydney Kitching went to South Africa from this country in his early twenties and resided there for 16 years. According to my information, he acquired South African citizenship and thus became a dual national. I am informed that he was arrested by the South African authorities and is being held under the provisions of the General Law Amendment Act of 1963, the so-called "Ninety Day Act".
Since Mr. Kitching appears to be a South African national, Her Majesty's Government have no locus standi to intervene officially on his behalf in that country.