South Africa’s Home Affairs Withdraws Directive on Asylum Access

What changed

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs withdrew a directive requiring Refugee Reception Offices to accept anyone who said they intended to apply for asylum.

The directive, issued on 28 September and implemented from 2 October, followed a July Constitutional Court ruling. It was withdrawn on Friday after reception offices reopened and protests, intimidation and violence erupted in Durban and elsewhere.

Why it matters

The court ruling was about access to the asylum process, not about granting residency, citizenship or voting rights. That distinction matters because a person cannot have the merits of an asylum claim examined if officials prevent them from lodging it in the first place.

South Africa’s previous system made that access depend on a transit visa, arrival at a reception office within five days, possession of another valid visa, or entry through a designated port. Between April 2022 and March 2024, Home Affairs issued just 91 asylum transit visas.

The court found that using procedural failures to block applications created a risk of refoulement: returning someone to a country where they could face persecution, torture, violence or other serious harm. It also rejected “good cause” interviews whose criteria were not clearly defined.

That leaves Home Affairs with a difficult administrative problem. Reception offices in Musina, Pretoria, Durban, Gqeberha and Cape Town must comply with the judgment, but the directive that reopened their doors has now been withdrawn as impractical and a security concern.

The immediate result is a return to the old position, with reception offices closed to newcomers while the department works out how to implement the ruling. The timing and method remain unclear. Meanwhile, false claims about what the directive changed helped turn a procedural legal dispute into street violence.