Why it's good that the 49 will remain citizens

Nakasa tragedy taught us why a birthright should not be at the mercy of the state

- Sydney Seshibedi

When the plane took off with 49 Afrikaners from OR Tambo International Airport earlier this month, to start their new lives in the US, where they were inexplicably granted refugee status unprovoked, the unprecedented occurrence predictably got people in South Africa and around the world talking. Many in SA expressed annoyance, while some expressed pity for the 49 who are discernibly pawns on the geopolitical chessboard.

Others simply wanted to know what the provisions of the South African Citizenship Act are. Some hoped that the “refugees” would lose their South African citizenship, for the act of betrayal against the republic. The desire to see the 49 lose their citizenship sounded like an okay statement to make on social media, amid their baffling departure.

But that would be irrational of the government if it stripped the citizenship of those who left to the land of milk and honey.

South Africa has acted irrationally before on citizenship matters! Yet, the country should know better as it boasts some of the most painful citizenship stories in human history.