South Africans React as Home Affairs Reveals the Truth About Foreigners

The Department of Home Affairs has released another notice in its “Facts vs Myths” series, which is meant to correct false claims about South Africa’s immigration laws and the way refugees are managed.

The latest notice, posted on the department’s official X account, deals with the belief that foreign nationals who apply for asylum are allowed to stay in South Africa for as long as they like. The department said this is not true. An asylum application gives a person temporary permission to remain in the country while the claim is being looked at. It does not give permanent status or an unlimited right to stay.

According to the department, every claim is reviewed on its own merits by specially trained Refugee Status Determination Officers within Home Affairs. They must follow South African law and the international conventions that protect refugees. The department explained that an asylum seeker permit only allows the applicant to live in the country legally until a decision is made on the claim.

If an application is found to be manifestly unfounded, fraudulent or not backed by credible evidence of persecution, it is rejected. The applicant must then go through formal deportation proceedings under the Immigration Act.

The notice comes at a sensitive time. Confusion about recent Constitutional Court judgments on how asylum claims are processed has added to social tension, anti-immigration protests and heated public debate in major cities. By publishing these notices, Home Affairs says it wants to counter false stories, assure citizens that migration is still controlled under the law, and make sure people across the country understand how refugee protection works.

https://x.com/HomeAffairsSA/status/2111102445094920378

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