South Africa: Gigaba clarifies government’s stance on dual citizenship
Published: 10/Sep/2015
Source: Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
Thulani Gqirana
While some members of the ruling party might have strong views on dual citizenship, the government is not currently considering reviewing its Citizenship Act at this time.
Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba on Thursday rubbished reports that the country is considering doing away with dual citizenship. Addressing an issue that has raised the ire of the Jewish community and South Africans abroad since it was first reported on Sunday, Gigaba said the Citizenship Act was last amended in 2009, where a provision was made that if a person chose to fight for another country, they had chosen a flag and therefore would lose their citizenship.
The weekend media reported that the ANC was reviewing the country’s dual-citizenship policy to stop South African citizens from taking up arms for the state of Israel.
According to reports, the issue to ban dual citizenship was apparently discussed at the ruling party’s July lekgotla and would come up again at its national general council.
This after the ANC National Executive Committee’s head on International Relations, Obed Bapela, told the Sunday Times that they were assessing whether the model of dual citizenship was still needed.
Read further: https://mg.co.za/article/2015-09-10-govt-not-reviewing-citizenship-act-gigaba