Cape Town — The Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that it is constitutionally invalid for South Africans to lose their citizenship when acquiring those from other nations, SABC reports.

The judgment reads: The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) today declared that s 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 is inconsistent with the Constitution and is invalid from its promulgation on 6 October 1995. It is further declared that those citizens who lost their citizenship by operation of s 6(1)(a) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995 are deemed not to have lost their citizenship.

It effectively strikes down legislation to the contrary, with the SCA confirming that South Africans who lost their citizenship are considered will once again be citizens.

The ruling comes after the Democratic Alliance (DA) appealed a high court order that dismissed the party's application that the legislation was inconsistent with the South African constitution. The party made the application on behalf of those who lost their South African citizenship due to the legislation.

The DA wrote in a statement: "The DA today celebrates with thousands of South Africans abroad who had unknowingly lost their South African citizenship due to a draconian piece of apartheid legislation ... After a 9-year-long campaign by the DA Abroad and a 5-year court battle by the DA, the judgment of the SCA is a victory for the constitutional right to citizenship."