South Africa: Why Home Affairs Reversed Its Asylum Decision After Violent Protests

What the report says

South Africa’s Home Affairs Department has withdrawn a recently issued asylum directive after it triggered protests, congestion at refugee offices and violent incidents in parts of the country. The report, published by Scrolla and distributed by AllAfrica, says the directive had been introduced on 28 September to allow asylum applications from people who might previously have been turned away because they entered the country without authorization or lacked certain paperwork.

According to the article, the policy move followed a Constitutional Court ruling on 7 July that found parts of South Africa’s refugee framework unconstitutional in a case brought by the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town. The court decision meant applicants could not be automatically blocked from having their claims heard solely because of their entry route or failure to report within a set period, although each case still had to be assessed under the law.

Tensions rose after the directive was implemented. The report says protests erupted on 8 October in Soweto and Durban, with vehicles set on fire and some shops looted. Home Affairs later said refugee reception offices had become overwhelmed and that public-order and safety concerns were increasing. The department also said the directive had been issued as an operational measure and that senior political leaders had not been consulted.

The withdrawal leaves the court ruling in place but delays any new process for handling asylum applications. The development has sharpened South Africa’s broader debate over immigration control, refugee access and pressure on public services.