Christine Hobden the country illegally and were living in exile. The SACA ensured that there were a number of provisions available for re-acquisition of citizenship for these individuals. Allowing dual citizenship was controversial given the extent to which it had historically been in place to favour white people and would continue to allow for this dual European-South African allegiance.6 Yet it remained in place precisely to allow lenience for returning exiles who had built substantial connections in other states. The provision for stateless children was also seen to be responding to the large number of undocumented individuals within South Africa. Note that immediately after independence, amnesty was granted to mine workers, members of the South African Development Community (SADC), and Mozambicans who had been illegally residing in South Africa (Klaaren 2000:222). This provision seems to speak to an understanding of the reality of the complexity and instability of the lives of many living within South African borders. Finally, the SACA also took careful consideration of those who had lost citizenship through forced removals into independent homelands. Recall the 1993 Restoration Act that sought to address this issue before the 1994 election. The SACA moved beyond this provision to make acquisition of citizenship automatic for individuals who had acquired homeland citizenship by naturalisation (§4(1)(a)(iii)). The 1993 Restoration Act required these individuals to naturalise in South Africa, and this was deemed to be unconstitutionally discriminatory toward this category of citizens (Klaaren 2000:234). While in many ways these insights point to a fairly concessive citizenship regime, we should also note one change that leant in the opposite direction: Apartheid citizenship law granted automatic citizenship to white people residing in South Africa for five years. This was understood to be a tool to create a larger pool of those required to report for military duty (Klaaren 2000:235). This clause was removed from new legislation and not replaced with a non-racial version; thus creating in practice much stricter naturalisation laws. The SACA also contains no special exemptions for citizens from previous colonial states; while South African citizens remain Citizens of the Commonwealth, there is no special dispensation for British citizens who wish to attain South African citizenship. 2.3 Influences On the whole, then, it seems that the decisions made in the creation of the SACA were chiefly motivated by internal political concerns: at the time, dual citizenship was, for example, not allowed, or only permitted in very particular cases, in South Africa’s neighbouring states (Manby 2016:77-8)7; and many clauses to create special considerations for naturalisation were clearly directed at domestic concerns arising from the historic creation of independent homelands. There are however two areas of external influence to consider: 2.3.1 Legal Influences The Constitution of South Africa was (and remains) the most vital legal document in ensuring the transition to democracy and an equal citizenship for all South Africans. While the Constitution allowed for wide consultation with the public, particularly in the creation of the interim Constitution, there were ‘stringent deadlines’ and ‘limited practical knowledge of the 6 See Klaaren (2000) pp. 235 – 241, for an extensive discussion of the parliamentary debates surrounding this issue. 7 Since SACA in 1995, many SADC countries have moved toward permitting dual nationality, either through legislation, constitutional amendments or court challenges. For a full discussion, see Manby (2016). 4 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2018/1- © 2018 Author(s)