Thousands lose SA citizenship after embracing other countries

Source: by Wyndham Hartley,- Business Day, 22/09/2015

ABOUT 2,000 South Africans lost citizenship over a four-year period as
a result of acquiring the citizenship of other countries, Home Affairs
Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Monday.


The disclosure that South Africans are losing their citizenship comes
after a furious debate earlier this month over a suggestion that the
African National Congress (ANC) intended to review the rules on dual
citizenship. Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance Obed Bapela
said the party`s national general council would discuss the matter,
but Mr Gigaba said the policy would not be reviewed.


On Monday, Mr Bapela retracted his statement, saying the matter was
not on the agenda of the ANC`s policy discussion conference, which is
scheduled to take place early next month.


Mr Gigaba, replying to a parliamentary question from Democratic
Alliance MP Hanif Hoosen, said about 500 South Africans a year had
lost their citizenship in the past four years.


Mr Hoosen had asked: "How many South Africans … lost their citizenship
in terms of Section 6 of the South African Citizenship Act, and from
which countries did the persons acquire citizenship?"


Mr Gigaba said: "A majority of cases relate to citizens taking up
citizenship in Australia, western Europe, Canada and the US."


The department`s website was up to date in relation to the Citizenship
Act, and it was each South African`s responsibility to be familiar
with the act before to taking up citizenship elsewhere, he
said.


The act, as amended in 2004, makes it an offence for a South African
citizen to enter or depart from SA on a foreign passport.


This means that an emigrant who acquires a foreign passport must
retain and renew his or her South African passport. Thus a South
African who has dual citizenship can use a foreign passport overseas,
but this is prohibited when travelling into the country.


In 2004, the department had warned citizens with two travel documents
not to travel into and out of the country on foreign passports, and
advised them to reapply for their South African passports, said Mr
Gigaba.


The Citizenship Act provides that the minister may deprive any citizen
by naturalisation of his or her citizenship if the certificate of
naturalisation was obtained by fraud, false representation or the
concealment of a material fact.