South Africa Scraps Asylum Directive After Violent Anti-Immigrant Protests

South Africa's Department of Home Affairs withdrew a directive on Friday regarding the intake of asylum seeker applications, following violent anti-immigrant protests in Johannesburg's Soweto, Durban, and Pretoria.

The directive, issued on September 28, was reversed after Home Affairs offices were overwhelmed, officials were placed at risk, and serious threats to public safety and order had emerged, according to the department. In Pretoria, anti-immigrant groups, including March and March, Operation Dudula, and the United Progressive People’s Alliance Party, gathered outside the Refugee Reception Office in Marabastad, threatening immigrant shopkeepers with violence and demanding they leave the country.

A GroundUp reporter was assaulted during an altercation. In Soweto, 10 vehicles were set alight, and foreign-owned shops were looted during clashes between residents and foreign nationals. Police reported no injuries in Soweto. The directive followed a July 7 Constitutional Court ruling in the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town case, which found certain provisions of the Refugees Act unconstitutional.

The court ruled that asylum seekers cannot be barred, detained, or deported due to procedural or technical immigration errors, including irregular entry or failure to meet strict reporting deadlines. The department states it will now develop a revised operational approach to ensure compliance with the Constitutional Court’s judgment. Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi welcomed the withdrawal, stating it creates an opportunity for further consultation.