<p> </p><p><em>The universal citizenship rights can not protect the interests of national minorities by systematically excluding them from social, economic and political life. It does this by denying national minorities access to their own societal cultures-a choice enabling background conditions. In order to enable meaningful choice, such cultures needs to be developing. The societal cultures of national minorities will, instead of being a living and developing ones, be condemned to an ever-increasing marginalization if the state follows a hands off approach to ethnicity. Thus the state must give a positive support to national minorities to help them develop their cultures in their own homeland. This can be done by drawing the boundary of the state in such a way that the ethnic minority can constitute a local majority to form a nation, and thus can be entitled to group-differentiated citizenship rights. This inevitably creates mutual-indifference among various nations, and seems to threaten the territorial integrity of the state. But as far as the multinational federation is the result of voluntary union of nations, though the social tie among these nations is weaker than the one found in a nation-state, it can nonetheless be enduring.</em></p><p>                              </p>

The universal citizenship rights can not protect the interests of national minorities by systematically excluding them from social, economic and political life. It does this by denying national minorities access to their own societal cultures-a choice enabling background conditions. In order to enable meaningful choice, such cultures needs to be developing. The societal cultures of national minorities will, instead of being a living and developing ones, be condemned to an ever-increasing marginalization if the state follows a hands off approach to ethnicity. Thus the state must give a positive support to national minorities to help them develop their cultures in their own homeland. This can be done by drawing the boundary of the state in such a way that the ethnic minority can constitute a local majority to form a nation, and thus can be entitled to group-differentiated citizenship rights. This inevitably creates mutual-indifference among various nations, and seems to threaten the territorial integrity of the state. But as far as the multinational federation is the result of voluntary union of nations, though the social tie among these nations is weaker than the one found in a nation-state, it can nonetheless be enduring.

Prior to 1994, citizenship was one of the pillars upon which the erstwhile government's policy of separate development rested. The concepts of citizenship and nationality were manipulated by the apartheid government to justify the denationalisation of black people and the creation of different classes of citizenship. Race, colour and language were the distinguishing features used to classify people into the different classes of citizenship. With the advent of the new constitutional order in 1994, common citizenship and the rights associated with it were restored to all South Africans. This discussion shows how in the post-1994 constitutional order citizenship has become an element of nation-building, while on the other hand it continues to perpetuate discrimination against non-citizens. The study aims to further the debate regarding the ill treatment of non-citizens with a view of influencing legislative and policy reform to replace the existing laws which are biased against no-citizens. / Law / LL.M.

Prior to 1994, citizenship was one of the pillars upon which the erstwhile government's policy of separate development rested. The concepts of citizenship and nationality were manipulated by the apartheid government to justify the denationalisation of black people and the creation of different classes of citizenship. Race, colour and language were the distinguishing features used to classify people into the different classes of citizenship. With the advent of the new constitutional order in 1994, common citizenship and the rights associated with it were restored to all South Africans. This discussion shows how in the post-1994 constitutional order citizenship has become an element of nation-building, while on the other hand it continues to perpetuate discrimination against non-citizens. The study aims to further the debate regarding the ill treatment of non-citizens with a view of influencing legislative and policy reform to replace the existing laws which are biased against no-citizens. / Law / LL.M.