The Constitutional Court has ruled that foreign nationals whose asylum applications have been rejected cannot submit new applications. The court said that allowing unlimited repeat applications without proper legislation in place could create a “never-ending cycle”, preventing deportations and causing administrative chaos.
Leon Schreiber, the minister of home affairs in South Africa’s coalition government, welcomed the ruling as a “major victory” against the “abuse” of the refugee system. The ruling ends a long-running case that was brought by two nationals from Burundi, who reapplied for asylum in 2018 after their applications were rejected in 2014.
South Africa has recently been hit by a wave of protests against undocumented migrants, with thousands taking to the streets in major cities to demand mass deportations.
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Ablakwa has said he wrote to the AU requesting that the xenophobic attacks in South Africa targeted at African immigrants should be discussed at a summit in Egypt.
Earlier, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said he expects law enforcement to take action against violent protesters, while
(file photo).