| (1) | The Minister may by order deprive any South African citizen by naturalisation of his or her South African citizenship if he or she is satisfied that— |
| (a) | the certificate of naturalisation was obtained by means of fraud, false representation or the concealment of a material fact; or |
| (b) | such certificate was granted in conflict with the provisions of this Act or any prior law. |
| (2) | The Minister may by order deprive a South African citizen who also has the citizenship or nationality of any other country of his or her South African citizenship if— |
| (a) | such citizen has at any time been sentenced in any country to a period of imprisonment of not less than 12 months for any offence which, if it was committed outside the Republic, would also have constituted an offence in the Republic; or |
| (b) | the Minister is satisfied that it is in the public interest that such citizen shall cease to be a South African citizen. |
| (3) | Whenever the Minister deprives a person of his or her South African citizenship under this section or section 10, that person shall cease to be a South African citizen with effect from such date as the Minister may direct and thereupon the certificate of naturalisation or any other certificate issued under this Act in relation to the status of the person concerned, shall be surrendered to the Minister and cancelled, and any person who refuses or fails on demand to surrender any such certificate which he or she has in his or her possession, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, or to both such fine and imprisonment. |
[Subsection (3) substituted by section 7 of Act No. 17 of 2010]
