South Africa: Judges Split On Concourt Asylum Ruling

What the report says

A legal dispute over how South African courts should apply a July Constitutional Court asylum ruling has been escalated to a full bench of the Gauteng High Court, according to GroundUp, distributed by AllAfrica. The apex court had said asylum seekers may not be deported before they have accessed the asylum system, but recent lower-court decisions in Gauteng interpreted that guidance differently.

One judge declined to release people detained at the Lindela Repatriation Centre, instead ordering the Department of Home Affairs to process their asylum claims while they remained in custody. Another judge took the opposite view and ordered the release of a detained Ethiopian asylum seeker. The conflicting rulings have created uncertainty for cases involving undocumented migrants who say they want to apply for asylum.

Gauteng Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba has now set down a full court hearing for 29 October and imposed a pause on similar applications in the province until then. The court is expected to decide whether someone can remain detained after expressing an intention to seek asylum, and whether judges may order continued detention while officials arrange access to refugee procedures.

The matter could affect how asylum-related detention cases are handled in other provinces as well. GroundUp reported that several legal and rights bodies, along with government departments and the UN refugee agency, have been invited to participate, underscoring the wider significance of the ruling for refugee protection and detention practice in South Africa.