Reprieve for South Africans stripped of their citizenship
The Department of Home Affairs has launched the second and final phase of its online citizenship reinstatement portal, allowing South Africans to reclaim their citizenship within hours.
The portal was launched in late 2025 in response to a May 2025 Constitutional Court order affirming findings by the lower courts that SA’s citizenship laws had major problems.
BusinessTech reports that the order specifically relates to section 6(1) of the Citizenship Act, which provided that South Africans automatically lose their citizenship if they voluntarily acquire citizenship of another country.
Before the ruling, those who wanted to retain their SA citizenship under those circumstances would have needed to apply directly to the Minister of Home Affairs, asking permission.
However, thousands of South Africans who emigrated or took up citizenship in another country had no idea that this was a requirement, and subsequently lost their SA citizenship without knowing.
The court and lower courts found that the existence of these laws directly contradicted rights enshrined in section 20 of the Constitution, which states that no South African may be stripped of their citizenship.
The courts also found that removing the right to citizenship would also violate other rights enshrined in the Constitution, including the right to vote, the right to reside in SA, the right to stand for public office and the right to choose any occupation.
To rectify the problem caused by the laws, the DHA launched a portal for any citizens affected to reclaim and reinstate their citizenship.
The first phase offered a secure, paperless online system for South Africans to confirm the reinstatement of their citizenship from anywhere in the world, without filling out a single form or standing in any queues.
BusinessTech reports that the DHA said 12 008 people checked their status, and 1 088 successfully had their citizenship reinstated under phase one of the project.
Under the second phase, the department is introducing real-time processing, which reduces turnaround times significantly.
‘Citizenship Reinstatement Portal 2.0 now introduces real-time automated processing that reduces reinstatement turnaround times from six to eight weeks, to as little as one hour for qualifying applicants,’ it said.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
