Overview
- The Constitutional Court ruled in July that parts of the Refugees Act are invalid and that immigration status cannot bar someone from having an asylum claim considered on its merits.
- The Department of Home Affairs issued an operational directive that requires every refugee reception office to receive and assist anyone who reports an intention to apply for asylum and to revisit some previously incomplete applications.
- The Department, which published its statement on Wednesday, said the directive implements the binding judgment, denied it creates citizenship or blanket legalisation, and referred a coordinated disinformation campaign using AI images to the Independent Electoral Commission.
- Reception centres have seen protests and long queues, notably in Durban where political figures such as Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma joined demonstrators and faced online threats that authorities are investigating.
- Legal and policy uncertainty remains: government set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration to assess practical impacts and Gauteng Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba has sent related matters to a full bench and imposed a temporary moratorium until courts give clarity.