South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs has withdrawn a directive governing the intake of asylum applications after its first days of operation overwhelmed refugee reception offices and raised safety concerns.
The department said Friday that its director-general issued the measure on September 28 as an operational response to the Constitutional Court’s July judgment in the Scalabrini of Cape Town matter. The directive was not a new political policy, it said, but an attempt by officials to implement the court’s order.
Home Affairs now says the immediate rollout produced consequences not anticipated in the judgment. Reception offices were placed under severe pressure, staff faced risks, and threats to public safety and order emerged. The department did not suggest that the withdrawal cancels or suspends the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
Instead, officials will develop a new operational method for compliance. That distinction matters: the administrative instrument has been withdrawn, but the department remains bound by the court’s order and has publicly reaffirmed that obligation. The next process will need to reconcile access to asylum procedures with the capacity and safety of the offices that administer them.
