‘No foreigners will enter’: Protesters block Durban refugee centre

A protest is unfolding outside South Africa's Department of Home Affairs Refugee Reception Centre in Durban. South Africans are demanding that asylum application processing halt, as hundreds of foreigners, primarily from Ethiopia, Somalia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, wait outside to have their applications processed. This follows a recent Constitutional Court ruling that reopened the country's asylum system to new applicants.

Among the protesters is Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, leader of March and March, who urges the Constitutional Court to reconsider its decision. "We are witnessing thousands of men flocking here, seeking to legalize their stay in South Africa. If you claim to welcome refugees, bring women and children," she asserts. Gauteng Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba has sought clarification from a Full Court on handling matters concerning undocumented asylum seekers detained and awaiting deportation.

The Constitutional Court's July Judgment invalidating parts of the Refugees Act has led to conflicting rulings from two Gauteng High Court judges. One ruled that detainees must be released if they express an intention to seek asylum, while the other did not release the applicants but ordered Home Affairs to process their asylum interviews immediately.

Ledwaba placed a moratorium on all similar applications in Gauteng until legal certainty is established.