People who lost their South African citizenship under a 1995 law because they had acquired “dual” citizenship of another country have had their rights restored by a Constitutional Court finding that a section of the 20-year-old Citizenship Act is unconstitutional and invalid.
Court action against section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act of 1995 was brought by the Democratic Alliance in 2018, on the grounds that it was inconsistent with the Constitution.
According to TimesLIVE, the subsection caused South African citizens to lose their citizenship automatically if they voluntarily acquired citizenship of another country, unless they obtained prior permission from the Minister of Home Affairs.
The High Court dismissed the DA’s application in August 2021, ruling that that the provision served a legitimate government purpose. The High Court held that the loss of citizenship under this section was not automatic, and was rather effected by operation of law following clearly-defined voluntary conduct on the part of the citizen.
On appeal in 2023, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) declared the provision constitutionally invalid from the date of its promulgation. It also made an order declaring that those citizens who had lost their citizenship by virtue of that section are deemed not to have lost their citizenship.
TimesLIVE reports that the matter came before the Constitutional Court for confirmation of the order of constitutional invalidity made by the SCA.
On Tuesday, in a unanimous judgment penned by Justice Steven Majiedt, the court held that the provision was constitutionally invalid and upheld the SCA’s declaration. It said the right to citizenship was entrenched in the Bill of Rights and could not be infringed upon or limited without justification.
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