Afrikaners can now keep South African citizenship while living in America

AFRIKANERS who will be leaving to take up new citizenship in America because of the South African government’s transformation policies will leave with peace of mind knowing that they could still come back if they are not happy in their new home country, said political analyst Thobani Zikalala. 

This followed a Constitutional Court ruling on May 6 in favour of a Democratic Alliance (DA) application to protect people who are taking new citizenship in a foreign country from losing citizenship of their country of birth. 

“This ruling means that people can now leave to get a passport of another country because they are gatvol with South Africa, but can return to be South Africans when convenient. 

“This judgment says that those people who left South Africa to become citizens of other countries can now come back,” said Zikalala. 

He said the judgment was convenient for the DA because most white people who left the country before 1994 in fear of the black government, could now vote for the DA. 

International media had reported this week that US government officials had organised a media briefing to be held at the Dulles airport in Virginia on Monday to welcome 50 Afrikaners, which would be the first group to be granted US refugee status and citizenship. 

In March, it was reported that there were up to 70 000 Afrikaners who expressed interest in taking President Donald Trump’s offer for them to move to his country. 

In his executive order, Trump alleged that the South African government had passed policies that would allow it to confiscate Afrikaners’ private property and discriminate against them. 

He also accused South Africa of practising white genocide. 

The Constitutional Court ruling invalidated Section 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 (the Act) that said South Africans who would take the citizenship of another country would cease to be South African citizens.

“People who are outside of the country can now claim citizenship and vote in the South African elections. 

“For me, this is something that we should be concerned about because the citizens of the country should be about loyalty, because if you go to another country and claim its citizenship, you should lose the citizenship of South Africa, the country with which you are not happy, because you chose to relinquish your citizenship.”

He said his concern was that those who left the country to avoid being ruled by the black government but found the situation not conducive for them in a foreign land, would now come back to the country that they had not been loyal to. 

Zikalala said this judgment was coincidental with the Afrikaners leaving for America, but said it would work for them when they found that their stay outside the country was not working for them. 

“White people have been leaving South Africa before, even before the idea of the American refugee status came up, people have been leaving South Africa for countries like New Zealand,  Australia, since 1994.

“It is good for white people who will go to the US, although I don’t think this is for the benefit of Afrikaners. But by way of coincidence, they will benefit because they will continue to run their businesses in South Africa not as foreigners but as citizens, as they will carry a passport of South Africa and a passport of whatever country, and in this case, the USA,” he said.

The DA had launched an application on behalf of South Africans who, unbeknownst, lost their citizenship. 

It told the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, that the automatic loss of citizenship deprived the affected people of their citizenship rights enshrined in Section 20 of the Constitution of South Africa.

bongani.hans@inl.co.za