South African nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of South Africa. The primary law governing nationality requirements is the South African Citizenship Act, 1995, which came into force on 6 October 1995.
Any person born to at least one South African parent receives citizenship at birth. Children born to a legal resident of the country are permitted to South African citizenship only when they reach the age of majority. Foreign nationals may be granted citizenship after meeting a residence requirement (usually five years).
South Africa is composed of several former British colonies conquered and settled during and very shortly after the 19th century, whose residents were British subjects. After these colonies were combined into the Union of South Africa and elevated as a Dominion within the British Empire in 1910, South Africa was granted more autonomy over time and gradually became independent from the United Kingdom. While South Africans are no longer British citizens, they continue to hold favoured status when residing in the UK; as Commonwealth citizens, South Africans are eligible to vote in UK elections and serve in public office there.
Commonwealth citizenship
South African citizens have been Commonwealth citizens by default since 1 June 1994.
Terminology
The distinction between the meaning of the terms citizenship and nationality is not always clear in the English language and differs by country. Generally, nationality refers a person's legal belonging to a nation state and is the common term used in international treaties when referring to members of a state; citizenship refers to the set of rights and duties a person has in that nation.
Historically, South African citizenship existed as a subsection within a wider British nationality (British subject status) applicable to all citizens of the British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations. The post-apartheid Constitution of South Africa avoids usage of the term "nationality" to sidestep possibilities of evoking ethnic connotations, but there is now little distinction between the two terms and they are used interchangeably in the modern context.
Acquiring South African nationality
Nationality can be obtained in South Africa at birth or later in life through naturalisation.
By birth
Typically, in South Africa, a combination of jus sanguinis and jus soli are used to determine nationality at birth. Those who are eligible include:
Children born anywhere who have at least one parent who is South African and the other parent is South African or a legal resident; or Persons born in the country who would otherwise be stateless, as long as their birth was registered with the authorities.
By naturalisation
Naturalisation can be granted to persons of majority who have resided in South Africa for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the official languages, customs and traditions of the country and the responsibilities of citizenship. General provisions are that applicants have good character and intend to remain in South Africa. Applicants must verify that they have been a permanent resident for five years and additionally resided in the country for a cumulative four years out of a previous eight-year period plus continuously in the year preceding the application. Besides foreigners meeting the criteria, other persons who may apply for naturalisation include:
Children born in the territory, to foreigners who are legal residents, if they have resided in South Africa since birth, upon reaching majority; Minor children of a naturalised South African may be naturalised with their parent; Adoptees of South African nationals can acquire nationality upon completion of a legal adoption; The spouse of a South African national after a "prescribed period" of residency and provided they are approved for permanent residency; or Persons who have exceptional circumstances may be naturalised without meeting requirements at the discretion of the Minister of Home Affairs.
Loss of nationality
A South African who has dual nationality, or who intends to accept another nationality, can voluntarily renounce their South African nationality by registering their renunciation with the South African government.
A South African who has dual nationality, and who serves in the armed forces of the other country in a war against South Africa, loses their South African nationality automatically, unless they apply to the Minister of Home Affairs for permission to retain it. A naturalised South African automatically loses South African nationality if they serve in the armed forces of any other country in a war not supported by South Africa. The law formerly also provided that a South African who voluntarily acquired another nationality lost their South African nationality, unless they applied to the minister for permission to retain it. In 2025 the Constitutional Court struck this clause down as unconstitutional.
South African nationals can be denationalized by order of the Minister of Home Affairs under certain circumstances. Naturalisation as a South African may be revoked if it was obtained by fraud or contrary to the citizenship law. A dual national may be deprived of South African nationality if they are convicted of a crime with a prison sentence of more than a year, or if the minister finds it to be in the public interest to do so.
Persons who have previously lost their South African nationality may reacquire it by application to the Minister of Home Affairs if the reasons for the loss no longer exist or are of no consequence.
Dual nationality
South Africa has allowed dual nationality since 1994 with restrictions. The Citizenship Act required citizens to apply for, and obtain, permission from the Minister of Home Affairs to retain their citizenship prior to acquiring the citizenship of another country via any voluntary and formal act (other than marriage) if over the age of majority, and failure to do so resulted in the automatic loss of South African citizenship upon acquiring another country's citizenship. On 6 May 2025 in the case of Democratic Alliance v Minister of Home Affairs the Constitutional Court struck down this law as inconsistent with the Constitution of South Africa and ordered the reinstatement of South African citizenship for those who lost their citizenship in this manner, confirming a 2023 decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
In addition, persons applying for naturalisation must prove that the country of their current nationality allows them to be dual nationals or they must renounce that nationality.
History
Dutch colonial rule (1652–1814)
South African nationality began in 1652, when the Dutch East India Company established the first permanent European settlement in the Cape of Good Hope at Table Bay. At that time, pastoral groups known as the San and Khoikhoi inhabited the region. As the colony developed and expanded from 1658, slaves from other African regions as well as parts of South and Southeast Asia were imported to work in agriculture and in domestic service. During the 18th century, the growth in population of white settlers was nearly identical to increases in slave populations, despite the fact that the slaves were predominantly male. Conversion to Christianity was discouraged, because Dutch law in the period required slaves to be manumitted upon conversion. The law also barred white fathers from manumitting children with slave mothers, but did allow freedom to children born to white mothers and slave fathers.
From the time of the Dutch Republic (1588–1795), belonging was based on birth in a Dutch city or province and could be acquired through marriage or application for admission. Its successor state, the Batavian Republic, established that inhabitants in Dutch territory could acquire nationality by birth, and citizenship if they were born in Batavian territory and remained there for two years, or if they lived within the nation for ten years. From 1717, a law limited the immigration of European women to Africa, increasing the likelihood of slave women becoming concubines or wives of white colonists. The governmental form changed again in 1805, and in 1809 the Kingdom of Holland adopted the Napoleonic Code with adaptations for Holland. When the French Empire annexed the Dutch kingdom in 1810, the full French code was declared to apply to Dutch territory. Under its terms nationality was acquired at birth through descent from a father. Married women were legally incapacitated, making them legal dependents, and the nationality of a husband was automatically bestowed upon a wife.
British colonial rule and early period of the Union of South Africa (1814–1949)
While the Netherlands was attempting to regain its independence from France, Britain moved against Dutch overseas possessions, and formally acquired the Cape of Good Hope under the terms of the Convention of London in 1814. In 1824 traders from the Cape Colony first settled at Port Natal, the area was annexed in 1843, and the Natal Colony was established in 1844. Queen Adelaide Province was claimed by Britain in 1835, abandoned in 1837, re-annexed in 1847, and in 1864 was incorporated into the Cape Colony. The Orange Free State became a Crown Colony in 1848 as Transorangia, in 1854 it became independent as a Boer state, but reverted to crown rule in 1900. In 1852, Britain recognized the Boer state of the South African Republic, but in 1877, it was attached to Britain as the Transvaal Colony. Basutoland was annexed by Britain in 1868 and Griqualand West was claimed in 1872, which were incorporated into the Cape Colony, respectively in 1895 and 1880. Britain acquired Bechuanaland in 1885, and its territory south of the Molopo River was joined to the Cape Colony. In 1887, Zululand was annexed by Britain and in 1897 became part of Natal.
British Nationality Acts did not extend beyond the bounds of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, meaning that under Britain's rules of conquest, laws in place at the time of acquisition remained in place until changed. As a new Civil Code for the Netherlands was not adopted until 1838, the law in place at acquisition in 1814 was the Napoleonic Code, meaning that nationality was defined by the relationship of a child or wife to their father or husband. In 1807, British involvement in the Atlantic slave trade was abolished. A decade later in 1817, Charles Henry Somerset, the Governor General of the Cape of Good Hope, issued a decree that foreigners could be granted a deed of burghership, after having lived in the colony for five years and taking an oath of allegiance. In 1833, the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolished slavery within its empire, establishing a four-year apprenticeship system in which slaves transitioned to full freedom. A large scale exodus from the Cape Colony of Dutch-speaking Free Burghers, known as Boers, and their slaves followed as a result of policies enacted by the British to protect indigenous people and newly emancipated slaves. Groups settled in the Natal, Transvaal, Transorangia, areas as well as northward into Bechuanaland (later part of South West Africa).