On June 13, 2023, the Supreme Court of South Africa handed down judgment on the case between the DA and the Minister of Home Affairs surrounding the unfair loss of citizenship that thousands of South Africans abroad were subjected to when they applied for second citizenship abroad. The news of their citizenship reinstated is fantastic news for all South Africans living abroad who unwittingly lost their citizenship.
Important update: As of early May 2025, a ConCourt ruling has effectively nullified the need for a Retention Letter, please read more here.
The ruling about citizenship reinstated to South Africans
According to the High Court, it has made changes to the original South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 as it was “inconsistent with the Constitution and is invalid from its promulgation on October 6, 1995”.
A statement from the High Court reads: “It is further declared that those citizens who lost their citizenship by operation of s 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 are deemed not to have lost their citizenship.”
Fighting for the rights of South Africans living abroad
Adrian Roos, the Shadow Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, has been fighting for the rights of South African citizenship and those who lost their citizenship unfairly. After a non-partisan petition organised by the DA and SAPeople, Roos first presented his arguments to the High Court early in 2021 after the petition had been signed by thousands of SA citizens that lost their citizenship without knowing about it.
Roos lost the initial case but then presented his case to the Supreme Court of Appeal in February 2023, continuing his fight to have citizenship reinstated for so many South Africans who involuntarily and unwittingly lost their SA citizenship when they applied for a second citizenship abroad. Many of these South Africans had also been informed incorrectly by SA embassies in the countries where they resided abroad.
Thousands of South Africans affected
With around 2 million South Africans living in foreign countries, thousands were estimated to be affected by the arcane law introduced in October 1995. Although the law was set in motion in 1995, many SA citizens were unaware of it. This law required South Africans to apply for a Letter of Retention of Citizenship from South Africa before they were allowed to apply for second citizenship. Without this letter, they stood to automatically lose their SA citizenship when they gained second citizenship abroad.
The DA’s case focused on section 20 of Section 6(1)(a) of the Constitution Act, which states that “no citizen may be deprived of citizenship”.
A statement from the DA’s Adrian Roos
According to Roos: “The DA today celebrates with thousands of South Africans abroad who had unknowingly lost their South African citizenship due to a draconian piece of apartheid legislation.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) today declared that s 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 is inconsistent with the Constitution and is invalid from its promulgation on 6 October 1995. It is further declared that those citizens who lost their citizenship by operation of s 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 are deemed not to have lost their citizenship.
After a 9-year-long campaign by the DA Abroad and a 5-year court battle by the DA, the judgment of the SCA is a victory for the constitutional right to citizenship.
Section 6(1) of the Citizenship Act provides that an adult citizen loses their South African citizenship if they take on the citizenship of another country by a voluntary and formal act other than marriage without first receiving permission from the minister of home affairs to retain their South African citizenship.
The SCA found that this vests in the Minister a vague and undefined discretionary power in relation to the retention of a fundamental right, the right to citizenship.
It doesn’t belong in our constitutional democracy. If the ANC is serious about ridding our legislation of apartheid statutes, they will not appeal this judgment.”