South Africa: March and March 'Aftershock' Floods Joburg Court in Asylum Cases

What the report says

A Johannesburg High Court judge has ordered South Africa’s Home Affairs department to take a more active role in processing asylum seekers held at the Lindela Repatriation Centre, after the court’s urgent motion roll was overwhelmed by deportation challenges linked to anti-immigrant protests. The matter, reported by GroundUp and distributed by AllAfrica, centres on undocumented foreign nationals from countries including Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria who were contesting removal orders because they had not yet been interviewed by the Refugee Reception Office.

Judge Mandlenkosi Motha said the current practice of releasing detainees only for them to be re-arrested created unfairness and could encourage corruption and exploitation. He directed Home Affairs either to send immigration and refugee officials to Lindela or to transport detainees to the nearest refugee reception office so asylum-related procedures can be completed. He also barred deportations in the cases before him while the necessary processes are carried out.

The ruling follows a July Constitutional Court decision that asylum seekers cannot be deported before properly accessing the asylum system. That judgment found parts of the Refugees Act unconstitutional because they allowed deportation where people lacked a transit visa, even though many asylum seekers do not obtain one before arriving at a reception office. The latest decision highlights how lower courts are dealing with a growing number of urgent immigration disputes and the legal uncertainty left by the apex court’s ruling.