South African citizenship can be taken away if the person also has citizenship of another country. If the person acquires citizenship of another country, he or she will lose their South African citizenship unless they apply to retain it before acquiring foreign citizenship and paying the required fee.

A person can lose South African citizenship by:

• Getting the citizenship of another country unless the reason for that is a marriage to a citizen of the other country
• Renouncing the South African citizenship voluntarily
• Serving in the armed forces of another country while that country is at war with South Africa
• Using the passport of another country without the minister’s permission
• Voting in another country’s elections OR
• If the certificate of naturalisation was obtained by means of fraud or false representation
• If the certificate was issued in conflict with the provisions of the act
• In the case of south african dual citizenship, the citizen has been sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months or more
• If the minister is satisfied that it is in the public’s interest that such a citizen shall cease to be a South African citizen

Note:
Anyone who complains that their South African citizenship has been taken away MUST be referred to an attorney.