Dual citizenship — SA’s diversity a check on claims to ‘who’s more South African’
Published: 6/Nov/2024
Source: Daily Maverick (South Africa)
By Stephen Grootes
While our politicians often dive into the realm of identity politics, the Constitutional Court will now have to make a decision about dual citizenship that could reopen many difficult arguments. At the heart of the legal case is whether one person, in this case, the Home Affairs minister, should have the power to decide whether one person is legally a South African, and another is not. This can lead to debates about what defines a South African.
On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court heard arguments from the DA that sought to confirm a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that the government cannot remove someone’s citizenship simply because they are also a citizen of another country.
The roots of this case go back more than a decade. The Home Affairs Ministry, currently headed by the DA’s Leon Schreiber, did not argue in the case, but simply said in court it would abide by its decision.
This followed an earlier decision by his predecessor, the ANC’s Dr Aaron Motsoaledi. While he had first opposed the case, before the election this year, he had said publicly he would not oppose the ratification of the SCA’s judgment by the Constitutional Court.
Legally, one of the questions at the heart of the case is whether the minister of Home Affairs has the power to make a decision that is so important to a person’s life.
Under the law as it is currently, a South African who voluntarily becomes the citizen of another country while an adult and not through marriage (or birth, or what some countries’s citizenship laws refer to as “blood”) has to apply to the Minister of Home Affairs for permission to retain their South African citizenship.
It appears that in some cases this has been granted, and in some cases not. What matters legally is that there are no clear criteria for these decisions. It appears it was simply the luck of the draw.