​“It Will Never Happen” Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma Defies ConCourt Ruling on Asylum Seekers

March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma has declared that the government will not succeed in allowing asylum seekers to apply for asylum in South Africa. She argues that the decision was made without consulting ordinary citizens and does not reflect what the majority of South Africans want.

Speaking at a gathering, Ngobese-Zuma said the process of accepting new asylum applications must stop. She insisted that the government cannot simply open the system because a court has ordered it to do so. According to her, citizens were left out of the conversation and their concerns about jobs, housing, clinics and safety were ignored.

The comments come after a Constitutional Court ruling that requires the Department of Home Affairs to process asylum applications properly. The court said people who claim to be refugees must be given a chance to apply, even if they entered the country without documents. Home Affairs later issued a directive telling refugee reception offices to start accepting applications again. The department then withdrew the directive after offices became overcrowded and some sites faced public safety problems within days.

Ngobese-Zuma and her group have opposed these steps from the start. March and March says the current system is open to abuse by people who are not genuine refugees. The organisation has previously called for refugee centres to be moved to the borders so that applicants can be screened before they enter the country. It has also asked for a national referendum on the Constitution and for South Africa to leave the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The group has organised several protests outside Home Affairs offices, especially in Durban. Some of these actions led to disruptions, and a number of supporters later appeared in court on public violence charges. Ngobese-Zuma has maintained that her movement is standing up for South Africans who feel their interests are being overlooked.

Government officials have defended the need to follow court orders and international obligations. They say every application must be assessed on its own facts and that rejected applicants can be removed once the legal process is complete. Ngobese-Zuma’s latest statement shows that the disagreement between the government and groups such as March and March is far from over. Many South Africans continue to watch closely as the debate over asylum and immigration rules plays out in the streets, in the courts and on social media.

Source: https://x.com/MDNnewss/status/2112994428512293046