South Africa's constitutional court rules on citizenship law

The Constitutional Court has confirmed the unconstitutionality of a law which automatically stripped South Africans of citizenship if they took citizenship of another country. The court, in a unanimous decision, has struck down the relevant section of the South African Citizenship Act, declaring it invalid from its promulgation in October 1995. [ . . . ] Justice Majiedt said the SCA’s reasoning could not be faulted and the plight of Plaatjies “vividly demonstrated” the irrationality of the section of the Act and that it was a constitutional aberration. He said the Act had come into effect in October 1995, under the interim constitution, and had remained in place under the current constitution. It was invalid under both, so the declaration of invalidity must take effect from October 1995.
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