South Africa’s Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of a Democratic Alliance (DA) application to protect people who acquire citizenship in foreign countries from losing their South African nationality, just as the first group of Afrikaners prepares to relocate to the United States under refugee status.
The landmark May 6 ruling invalidated Section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995, which previously stipulated that South Africans would automatically lose their citizenship upon acquiring nationality of another country.
“It is further declared that those citizens who lost their citizenship by operation of section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 are deemed not to have lost their citizenship,” the Constitutional Court stated in its unanimous decision.
Political analyst Thobani Zikalala noted the timing of the ruling coincides with plans for Afrikaners to relocate to America under President Donald Trump’s refugee program.
“This ruling means that people can now leave to get a passport of another country because they are gatvol with South Africa, but can return to be South Africans when convenient,” said Zikalala.
According to international media reports, US government officials have organized a media briefing to be held at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Monday to welcome approximately 50 Afrikaners – the first group to be granted US refugee status under Trump’s executive order.
The State Department has chartered a special flight to transport the group, with plans for a ceremonial welcome at the airport before they continue to their final destinations in various states.
In March, it was reported that up to 67,000 Afrikaners had expressed interest in accepting Trump’s offer for resettlement in the United States. The US President signed an executive order in February directing officials to prioritize Afrikaners for refugee status, alleging the South African government had passed policies allowing for discrimination and property confiscation.
The DA, which launched the constitutional challenge, celebrated the court’s decision. “Today’s victory also means that all South Africans who inadvertently lost their citizenship have had it restored,” the party said in a statement, noting that the case culminated a 10-year legal battle.
Justice Steven Majiedt, who wrote the Constitutional Court’s decision, emphasized that the “right to citizenship is cherished and should not be lightly removed,” adding that “loss of citizenship has severe consequences. It entails being deemed to be a foreigner.”
Zikalala expressed concerns about the implications of the ruling, particularly in relation to national loyalty.
“For me, this is something that we should be concerned about because the citizens of the country should be about loyalty, because if you go to another country and claim its citizenship, you should lose the citizenship of South Africa, the country with which you are not happy, because you chose to relinquish your citizenship,” he said.
The South African government has dismissed Trump’s claims about persecution of Afrikaners. “Our position is that there are no South African citizens who can be classified as refugees to any part of the world,” a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa stated, describing the US actions as “misguided foreign interventions.”
Legal experts note that the Constitutional Court’s ruling applies to all South Africans equally, regardless of race or background, and will affect approximately 2 million South Africans living abroad.
