JOHANNESBURG-(MaraviPost)-South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs has abruptly withdrawn its asylum intake directive, saying its refugee offices were overwhelmed within days and that officials were placed at risk as public unrest spread.
The department said the directive, meant to comply with a Constitutional Court order to reopen and streamline asylum processing, was issued without the Minister’s knowledge and had triggered serious threats to public safety.
It will now be replaced with a new approach, though officials have not said what that will be or when it will be ready.
The withdrawal caps a tense and violent week that has laid bare the country’s volatile migration politics.
After the directive was published, thousands of desperate asylum seekers queued overnight outside refugee reception centres in Pretoria, Durban, Musina and Gqeberha, many travelling from as far as Ethiopia, Somalia and the DRC in hopes of securing temporary permits.
The massive turnout quickly turned into flashpoints.
In Soweto, simmering tensions between locals and foreign nationals boiled over.
At least 10 cars were torched in Orlando West, with vehicles believed to belong to foreign nationals specifically targeted.
Residents reported looting, stone-throwing and running battles that forced police to seal off roads.
In Durban’s CBD, similar scenes played out as vehicles were damaged and set alight amid clashes involving South Africans and foreign nationals, prompting a heavy deployment of public order units.
In Gqeberha, police were forced to fire stun grenades after a group of about 30 people tried to storm the Home Affairs refugee office and block hundreds of asylum seekers, including women with children, from accessing services.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration has since appealed for calm, warning that vigilantism at government facilities will not be tolerated.
But the reversal has created a legal and humanitarian vacuum.
Home Affairs has not explained how a directive of such significance was issued without ministerial sign-off, what happens to the thousands who had already begun the process and queued for days, or how the state intends to meet the Constitutional Court’s binding order in the meantime.
Rights groups say asylum seekers, who have a right under South African and international law to seek protection, are now left stranded, while the lack of clarity fuels rumours and unverified videos online that have added to xenophobic tensions.
The department says it is developing a fresh compliance plan. Until then, services at several refugee reception offices remain disrupted.
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