By Amy Musgrave
The Democratic Alliance has welcomed the Constitutional Court ruling in its favour on Tuesday on an application to secure dual citizenship for South Africans.
“For nearly two million South Africans living abroad, this victory is monumental. It is equally important for those living in South Africa who have acquired a second nationality,” DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp said.
The ruling is the culmination of a 10-year legal battle by party and DA Abroad to restore the citizenship of South Africans who lost their citizenship after obtaining a second nationality without receiving a “Retention of Citizenship” letter beforehand.
The DA challenged the constitutionality of Section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995. The section, which has now been declared unconstitutional, required that South African citizens had to apply for and obtain a ‘Retention of Citizenship’ letter from the Minister of Home Affairs before acquiring a second nationality, otherwise they would automatically lose their citizenship.
The ruling also means that all South Africans who inadvertently lost their citizenship have had it restored.
“So many South African citizens had the rug pulled out from under them when they suddenly discovered they had lost their citizenship, without warning,’ said Aucamp.
“Throughout this legal battle, we were resisted, opposed and obstructed at every turn by the previous ministers of home affairs at every level, including most notably former minister Aaron Motsoaledi,” said Aucamp.
The next step will be through the Home Affairs department to ensure that citizenship is restored.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, who is a member of the DA, said the ruling was “good news’ as it provided an opportunity to restore the dignity of those who had been stripped of their citizenship.
He revealed that the department was already building an online portal for those affected to confirm citizenship reinstatement.
INSIDE POLITICS