Peter was born out of wedlock, outside the Republic, on 5 June 1998, and his mother, at
the time of his birth, was not in the service of the government of the Republic. Does
Peter qualify for citizenship by birth? Advise him.
A person born outside the Republic qualifies for citizenship by birth on or after the date
of commencement of the Citizenship Act (1995) if, among other things, his or her parents
or his or her mother (if he or she was born out of wedlock) was in the service of the
Government of the Republic. Since Peter’s mother was not in the service of the South
African government at the time of Peter’s birth, Peter does not qualify for citizenship by
birth in South Africa
Themba was born in the Republic on 5 June 1998. His father was a career
representative of the government of Zambia. Does Themba qualify for citizenship by
birth in South Africa? Give a reason or reasons for your answer.
South African citizenship by birth is not extended to a person born in the Republic on or
after the date of commencement of the Citizenship Act if, at the time of his or her birth,
one of his parents was a career representative of the government of another country.
Therefore, since Themba’s father was a career representative of Zambia, Themba does
not qualify for citizenship by birth in South Africa.
Explain the instances that could enable Themba to qualify for citizenship by birth in
South Africa.
Themba will only qualify for citizenship by birth if :
(a) he is legally adopted by a South African citizen, or
(b) he does not have the citizenship or nationality of any other country, or has no right to
such citizenship or nationality, and
(c) his birth is registered in the Republic in accordance with the Births and Deaths
Registration Act 51 of 1992
Briefly explain the legislative history of South African citizenship law.
The South African Citizenship Act 49 of 1949
The Commonwealth Relations Act 69 of 1962
The Black Homelands Citizenship Act 26 of 1970
The Restoration of South African Citizenship Act 73 of 1986
The Restoration and Extension of South African Citizenship Act 196 of 1993
, The 1993 Interim Constitution
The 1996 Constitution
Sipho, a foreigner, was convicted of rape and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment in
2001. He served his nine years’ sentence in the Pretoria prison. He comes to you for
advice and he tells you that he wants to apply for a certificate of naturalisation after
having been in South Africa for 10 years. Will he be issued with a certificate of
naturalisation? Advise him.
You need to determine whether a period a foreigner served in prison is deemed to be a
period of residence or ordinary residence for the purposes of issuing a certificate of
naturalisation. Your answer should be no because Sipho spent nine years in prison. The
Minister, in this case, would not be willing to make use of his discretion to grant Sipho a
certificate of naturalisation under exceptional circumstances. Therefore, Sipho does not
qualify for a certificate of naturalisation.
Sipho holds both South African citizenship and Canadian citizenship. He has just learnt
that he has been deprived of his South African citizenship. He comes to you for advice –
he tells you that the reason why he is being deprived of his citizenship is that he was
convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for bank robbery in Canada. He
wants to know whether his deprivation of citizenship is in accordance with the law.
Advise him.
Your answer should be yes. Sipho has been deprived of his citizenship in a lawful
manner. The reason is that the Citizenship Act allows one to be deprived of one’s
citizenship if one holds dual citizenship and has been convicted in another country for a
period of not less than 12 months for an offence which is also regarded as an offence in
South Africa.
Explain the consequences of loss of citizenship by children deprived of their citizenship
because their parents have ceased to be South African citizens through voluntarily
obtaining citizenship of another country without requesting the retention of South African
citizenship or as a result of deprivation.
Children born outside the Republic and who have been deprived of their citizenship,
because their parents have ceased to be South African citizens by voluntarily obtaining
citizenship of another country without requesting the retention of South African
citizenship or as a result of deprivation, shall be regarded as having the citizenship or
nationality they had before becoming South African citizens. If such children had no
other citizenship or nationality before becoming South African citizens, they are regarded
as having the citizenship or nationality of their responsible parents.
What are the consequences of loss of South African citizenship by a person who
acquired citizenship through naturalisation and has ceased to be a South African citizen
because he or she has renounced his or her citizenship?
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