Automatic loss — service in foreign armed forces at war with the Republic (s6(1)(b)/s6(3))
Citizenship in South Africa
This route describes loss of citizenship (renunciation, termination, or deprivation), not a way to acquire it.
- Eligibility
- A South African citizen who also holds another country's nationality ceases to be a citizen if he or she serves in that country's armed forces while it is at war with the Republic (s6(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). A parallel ground under s6(3) applies to a naturalised citizen who engages, under another country's flag, in a war that the Republic does not support. These narrow war-service grounds remain operative and were unaffected by the striking-down of the automatic-loss rule in s6(1)(a).
- Timeline
- Automatic by operation of law; no application processing window for the status itself.
- Renunciation
- Not required
Overview
A South African citizen who also holds another country's nationality ceases to be a citizen if he or she serves in that country's armed forces while it is at war with the Republic (s6(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act 88 of 1995). A parallel ground under s6(3) applies to a naturalised citizen who engages, under another country's flag, in a war that the Republic does not support. These narrow war-service grounds remain operative and were unaffected by the striking-down of the automatic-loss rule in s6(1)(a).
Timeline
Timeline: automatic. Document burden: n/a. Required: none of residency/language/presence/renunciation.
Legal basis
- s6(1)(b) is a narrow, still-operative auto-loss ground: a South African citizen who, under the laws of another country, ALSO holds that country's nationality and serves in its armed forces WHILE that country is at war with the Republic, ceases to be a South African citizen. (Unaffected by the s6(1)(a) strike-down.)
Example scenarios
Loss of SA citizenship under the surviving s6(1)(b) ground.
s6(1)(b) is a narrow, still-operative auto-loss ground: an SA citizen who also holds another country's nationality and serves in its armed forces 'while that country is at war with the Republic' ceases to be an SA citizen. It is unaffected by ZACC 8/2025, which struck only s6(1)(a).
Loss of SA citizenship under s6(3) (naturalised-citizen war ground).
s6(3) (inserted by the 2010 Amendment, in force 2013-01-01) provides that a person who obtained SA citizenship by naturalisation ceases to be a citizen if he engages, under the flag of another country, in a war the Republic does not support. The ground is specific to naturalised citizens and survives the 2025 strike-down of s6(1)(a).
Informational summary compiled from primary legal sources — not legal advice. Citizenship law changes; verify with the competent authority before acting. Last verified 2026-07-01.
Track changes to this route
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