Court ruling on citizenship ‘a relief to many’
A group for South Africans abroad says a recent court ruling will allow those living overseas to stay actively involved in the country.
Operation Watershed says it's thrilled with the Constitutional Court judgment, which allows people to obtain dual citizenship, without losing their South African status.
Previously, citizens were stripped of their status if they acquired a second nationality without prior permission from the Minister of Home Affairs.
The group's Hayley Reichert, who's in the UK, has described the ruling as a major win for the many South Africans working or studying abroad.
"They went to register at their nearest foreign mission to vote and were turned away and told they are no longer South Africans and therefore they cannot register to vote. I did my homework, we read up on the Citizenship Act, came across the problematic section sent it out to Haniff Hoosen, who at the time was the DA's Shadow Minister for Home Affairs."
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Home Affairs says a portal to help people comply with the new process will go live next month.
Reichert, who was born in Durban, believes the news will come as a relief for many.
" I have met tens of thousands of South Africans who have been impacted by the loss of a citizenship issue. Many retell their stories of how they walked out of their near foreign mission in absolute shock and tears, having had their passports cut up in front of them, and quite ruthlessly told that they're no longer citizens.”
She said many who have said they had to go ahead with enquiring foreign citizenship.
"Because Visas were coming to an end and they can't wait months or even years to obtain the necessary retention document."
