‘Why don’t the judges just run our lives’: Ngobese-Zuma fumes over asylum directive
Asylum seekers will no longer have to fear South Africa's immigration laws thanks to Home Affairs and the Constitutional Court.
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has reintroduced a directive for refugee reception centers following a July Constitutional Court ruling. The ruling deemed certain sections of the Refugees Act of 1998 invalid, stating that an individual's immigration status should not be a factor in processing an asylum application. Home Affairs outlined several requirements for asylum seekers, including accepting all individuals who request asylum and assisting them in lodging an application.
The directive also allows for the reevaluation of previously dismissed or partially processed applications.
The directive has sparked controversy, with opposition leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma criticizing the decision. She argued that the ruling effectively grants asylum seekers "free will" to enter South Africa and that the country's resources are insufficient to accommodate a large influx of asylum seekers. Ngobese-Zuma further questioned whether South Africans' rights and even their own documents are being disregarded.
The non-profit Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town supported the Constitutional Court's decision, emphasizing that the country's asylum system should remain accessible to all individuals seeking protection, regardless of their entry method. The centre stressed that refugee status should be determined based on an applicant's merits rather than their journey to apply for asylum.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
