South Africa

A person born in or outside the Republic is a South African citizen by birth if, at the time of birth, at least one parent was a South African citizen (s2(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). This is South Africa's principal descent-based route: since the 2010 Amendment took effect on 1 January 2013, birth abroad to a citizen parent confers citizenship by birth (no longer 'by descent'), and the Constitutional Court in Chisuse (2020) confirmed that no birth registration is required and that the rule reaches persons born before that date.

A person born in the Republic who does not acquire citizenship under s2(1) is nonetheless a South African citizen by birth if (a) he or she does not have, and has no right to, the citizenship or nationality of any other country, and (b) the birth is registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 (s2(2) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). Both conditions must be satisfied; this is South Africa's domestic safeguard against childhood statelessness.

A person born in the Republic to parents who have been admitted for permanent residence, and who is not already a citizen, qualifies to be a South African citizen by birth if he or she has lived in the Republic continuously from birth until becoming a major (age 18) and the birth is registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 (s2(3) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). Entitlement crystallises at majority rather than at birth.

Since the 2010 Amendment, citizenship by descent is confined to adopted children: a person who is adopted by a South African citizen under the Children's Act 38 of 2005, and whose birth is registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992, is a South African citizen by descent (s3 of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). This is the sole 'by descent' route in the current Act; biological children born abroad to a citizen parent acquire citizenship by birth under s2(1)(b), not by descent.

Section 26A of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 (inserted by Act 69 of 1997 and deemed effective from 6 October 1995) provides that any reference in an earlier law, certificate or document to citizenship of a former TBVC/homeland state is to be construed as a reference to South African citizenship. This interpretive provision gives continuing legal effect to the automatic restoration of the former-homeland population and remains in force.

A permanent resident may apply for naturalisation under s5 of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 after a continuous period of not less than five years' ordinary residence in the Republic immediately preceding the application, together with good character, the ability to communicate in an official language, adequate knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship, and an intention to continue residing in the Republic. An applicant over 18 must also make the Schedule 1 declaration of allegiance before a certificate is issued.

The Minister may naturalise the spouse or surviving spouse of a South African citizen who has been admitted for permanent residence and who has been ordinarily resident in the Republic, and married to that citizen, for the period prescribed by the Citizenship Regulations (s5(5) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). This spouse track displaces the ordinary five-year residence requirement of s5(1) with the shorter period set by regulation; marriage alone confers no citizenship (s14).

The Minister may grant a certificate of naturalisation to a minor who is permanently and lawfully resident in the Republic, on an application made by the minor's responsible parent or legal guardian (s5(4) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). This is a discrete route for minor children that operates in place of the ordinary adult naturalisation requirements of s5(1).

Under exceptional circumstances the Minister may grant a certificate of naturalisation to an applicant who does not meet the ordinary five-year residence requirement (s5(9) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). It is a discretionary route to waive the residence condition where warranted; the Minister must table in Parliament each year the names of persons naturalised on this basis, with reasons, and the decision is reviewable in the High Court.

A person born in the Republic to parents who are neither South African citizens nor permanent residents qualifies to apply for South African citizenship on reaching majority (age 18) if he or she has lived in the Republic continuously from birth to majority and the birth is registered under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 (s4(3) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). This is a deferred naturalisation claim made at majority, not an automatic status, and was the subject of Minister of Home Affairs v Ali [2018] ZASCA 169.

A pending Departmental reform — the Draft Revised White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection (Cabinet-approved in 2024, with a revised draft published for public comment into early 2026) — proposes a broad overhaul of South Africa's citizenship, immigration and refugee framework. It is a policy proposal at the consultation stage only, not enacted law, and creates no citizenship route unless and until it is passed into legislation.

A former South African citizen who ceased to be a citizen under a prior law or under sections 6, 7, 8 or 10 may apply to the Minister to resume citizenship, which the Minister may allow on being satisfied that the grounds for the loss or deprivation no longer exist or are of no consequence, provided the applicant is resident in or returns to the Republic for permanent residence (s13 of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). Resumption is a discretionary re-grant of a citizenship genuinely lost, distinct from the declaratory reinstatement of the section 6(1)(a) cohort.

Every person who lost South African citizenship by operation of s6(1)(a) between 6 October 1995 and the 2025 judgment — typically emigrants who acquired another nationality without a retention letter — is, by the order in Democratic Alliance v Minister of Home Affairs [2025] ZACC 8, deemed never to have lost citizenship. This is a declaratory, retroactive restoration that requires no fresh application, no return or residence, and no Ministerial discretion; affected persons simply verify and record their status through the DHA Citizenship Reinstatement Portal, which confirms rather than re-grants citizenship.

A South African citizen who already holds, or who intends to acquire, another country's nationality may renounce South African citizenship by a declaration in the prescribed form; the renunciation takes legal effect only when the Minister registers it (s7 of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). The requirement that the renouncer have or be acquiring another nationality is a built-in safeguard against statelessness. Minor children under 18 may also cease to be citizens on the parent's renunciation if the other parent is not, or does not remain, a South African citizen.