The need for a South African passport

People born in South Africa who now have only an Australian passport will need to apply for a South African passport to enter the country of their birth.

They can no longer do this on their Australian passports.

For, in a Constitutional Court ruling in May 2025, South Africa declared section 6 (1) (a) of the Citizenship Act unconstitutional.

And that ruling eliminated the automatic loss of South African citizenship for those getting foreign citizenship “without prior permission”.

In other words, people born in South Africa do not automatically lose their citizenship when acquiring another nationality. This means many Australians who previously thought they had lost their SA citizenship when they became Australians actually retained it (or have had it reinstated).

So, anyone born in South Africa is now generally considered a South African citizen by birth and (even if they hold Australian citizenship), South African law mandates that they have and use a South African passport to enter the country.

People born in South Africa can confirm their citizenship using the portal created by the Department of Home Affairs.

They would then use their Australian passport to re-enter Australia.

+ Australian Government’s Smartraveller advice: smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/africa/south-africa

+ Confirm citizenship at the South African Government’s Department of Home Affairs website: myhomeaffairsonline.dha.gov.za

+ If readers are still unclear, they can contact South African Consulate Perth through their website at saconsulwa.com, email saconsulwa@gmail.com or call 9321 0355.

ECHO OF UK PASSPORT SHIFT

It comes as readers with Australian passports who are also eligible for a British or Irish passport have to get one to enter the UK.

From February 25, 2026, Australian-British dual citizens boarding a flight (or ship) entering the UK must use either a valid British passport or have a Certificate of Entitlement sticker in your Australian passport.

Under these new UK border rules, dual citizens are no longer permitted to enter the UK on an Australian passport or use an electronic travel authorisation.

British citizenship by descent is automatic if you meet some conditions. That means, for example, people might be deemed a citizen if their parents were born in the UK or a British territory. But that depends on the date you were born and where your parents are from.

There is more on that here: gov.uk/check-british-citizenship