Loss of SA citizenship debacle for South Africans abroad heads to court
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be heading to the Supreme Court of Appeal on 23 February to continue – and for many South Africans abroad, hopefully win – its legal battle with Home Affairs concerning thousands of South Africans who have inadvertently lost their SA citizenship. Over the past few years SAPeople has been inundated […]
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be heading to the Supreme Court of Appeal on 23 February to continue – and for many South Africans abroad, hopefully win – its legal battle with Home Affairs concerning thousands of South Africans who have inadvertently lost their SA citizenship.
Over the past few years SAPeople has been inundated with desperate messages from South Africans abroad who had no idea they had been stripped of their SA citizenship when they voluntarily obtained the citizenship of a second country. Some in fact had even been incorrectly informed by SA Embassies in their countries. (For the record, the current law states that you must apply for – and pay – for a Letter of Retention from SA, before you even apply for a second citizenship.)
Concerned South Africans are invited to join the DA’s Shadow Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Adrian Roos, on Wednesday evening for the latest update on the upcoming Supreme Court of Appeal hearing.
To join the zoom webinar on Wednesday, 15 Feb at 5pm London or 7pm SA time, please register here: https://bit.ly/LossCitizenship
The DA says it is challenging the constitutionality of Section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 in that it unjustifiably infringes on section 20 of the bill of rights, which protects the right of citizens not to be deprived of their citizenship. Not only does section 6(1)(a) unreasonably violate this right by depriving citizens of citizenship, but it does so without even affording them any notice.
“It is a common cause that Home Affairs finds no issue with a South African becoming a dual citizen. This calls into question the legitimate purpose of this provision when neither Home Affairs nor the citizen, is aware of such loss at the time it occurs,” the DA points out.
Home Affairs wrongly claims South Africans intended to lose their citizenship
Section 7 of the Act provides a mechanism that allows citizens to renounce their citizenship should they explicitly choose to do so. The assumption that citizens necessarily intend to give up their citizenship when taking second citizenship has been made, despite overwhelming evidence submitted to the court confirming citizens did not intend to lose their citizenship.
SAPeople can attest to this – from hundreds of messages we’ve received, most South Africans are devastated, shocked and had no idea they had lost their citizenship.
The DA (which lies just 10% behind the ANC according to a recent ANC internal poll), has evidence of citizens receiving bad advice from embassies worldwide; and in their appeal points to judicial precedent that a constitutional deficiency can’t be defended by referring to “untenable assumptions about perfect human behaviour“.
BTW – South Africans whose citizenship has been revoked, never lose their right to residency and after a period of time living back in SA can reclaim their citizenship. (However, it’s not always been a smooth ride for some who have tried.)
To join the zoom webinar with Adrian Roos on Wednesday, 15 Feb at 5pm London or 7pm SA time, please register here: https://bit.ly/LossCitizenship
WATCH South African Expats are having their citizenship revoked
SAPeople editor Jenni Baxter explained the crisis for South Africans abroad to the late Jeremy Mansfield: