DA court citizenship battle

Party approaches ConCourt to confirm ruling that provision is unconstitutional.

- Molefe Seeletsa

The DA says South African citizenship for individuals who lost it after obtaining citizenship in another country should be reinstated.

One such case involves Philip James Plaatjies, who lost his South African citizenship in 2007 after becoming a naturalised citizen of the UK, following his marriage to a British woman three years earlier.

Unaware of the consequences, Plaatjies was affected by Section 6(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, which states that South Africans automatically forfeit their citizenship if they voluntarily and formally acquire citizenship of another country.

According to Section 6(2) of the Act, individuals must apply to the minister of home affairs to retain their South African citizenship before obtaining foreign citizenship.

Plaatjies' pursuit of dual citizenship led the DA to challenge the constitutionality of Section 6(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act.

In 2018, the High Court in Pretoria ruled against the DA, but the party appealed successfully to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).