The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has found that it is constitutionally invalid and irrational to lose South African citizenship when acquiring other citizenships.

The SCA has further declared that those citizens who lost their citizenship because of the legislation are deemed not to have lost their citizenship.

The legislation provides that adult citizens automatically lose their South African citizenship when they voluntarily and formally acquire citizenship or the nationality of another country without first obtaining ministerial permission to retain their citizenship.

This come after the Democratic Alliance (DA) appeal against the High Court order that dismissed their application that the legislation is inconsistent with the South African constitution.

The DA brought the application on behalf of citizens who discovered that they had lost their South African citizenship through the legislation.