Made more than R110 million in just one year

Home Affairs suffered a significant setback due to ongoing legal disputes, which cost the ministry more than R110 million from April 2023 to the end of February.

Financial setback for Home Affairs due to lawsuits

Aaron Motsoaledi stated that the department had collected a litigation bill worth R117,692,996.30, which was significantly more than the R72,63,944.51 spent the previous year.

The department has paid out almost R300 million in the last five years, specifically R295 258 713.51, for legal costs.

According to The citizenOne of the major legal challenges facing Home Affairs concerns the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP).

In 2021, the government decided not to renew the permits after they expired in December.

However, they agreed to extend the deadline by a year, allowing Zimbabweans to apply for alternative visas.

The Zimbabwe Immigration Federation has filed a lawsuit against the department regarding the termination, seeking to have it declared unconstitutional and invalid.

This led to a high-profile case marked by delays, public outcry, arguments and subsequent appeals.

In January, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that the department’s practice of blocking South African IDs was unfair, invalid and incompatible with the constitution.

The case was initiated by Phindile Mazibuko, who was affected by this practice, together with Lawyers for Human Rights and LegalWise South Africa.

In her ruling, Judge Elmarie van der Schyff ordered the department to cover the costs associated with the application, including the fees of two legal advisors.

In February, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg dismissed a case against Home Affairs brought by asylum seekers who claimed they had been unlawfully arrested.

The applicants claimed that they faced persecution in Ethiopia and had sought refuge in South Africa. However, before they could apply for asylum, they were reportedly apprehended.

The court found their detention lawful and emphasized that merely expressing the intention to seek asylum does not automatically confer constitutional protection.

Helen Suzman Foundation criticizes the government’s White Paper

The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) urged parliament to refrain from passing a white paper to overhaul the country’s immigration laws.

Naseema Fakir, the foundation’s acting executive director, declared her opposition to the adoption of the white paper, as Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced on Wednesday.

According to Sowetan LiveMotsoaledi stated that the policy positions outlined in the document had received extensive support.

The White Paper on Citizenship, Immigration and Refugee Protection: Towards a Complete Overhaul of South Africa’s Migration System was released for public comment in November 2023 and published in the Government Gazette.

The White Paper proposes numerous changes to immigration laws, including the possibility of South Africa withdrawing from the UN Convention and Protocol on Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

“I intend to introduce a complementary and integrated bill in Parliament, based on the final White Paper, without further delay,” Mostoaledi said.

Fakir said they find the approval disappointing.

“The Helen Suzman Foundation is appalled by the government’s decision to definitively adopt the White Paper. This despite strong objections from numerous social organizations, including HSF.

In our submission on the White Paper, HSF pointed out that the White Paper does not meet the threshold for sound government policymaking because it offers an inscrutable solution without properly defining the challenges that migration poses to South Africa.

“Instead, the white paper bemoans SA’s already strict legal regime for refugee protection and ignores the fundamental legal realities that prevent a wholesale strengthening of our refugee laws,” Fakir said.

The foundation and several other civil society organizations criticized the government’s proposed immigration reforms, denouncing the suggestions as “threatening the safety of refugees and migrants in South Africa.”

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