Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma Calls for Referendum After Home Affairs Withdraws Asylum Directive

• The Department of Home Affairs withdrew its directive ordering Refugee Reception Offices to resume accepting asylum applications, citing operational collapse within days of implementation
• March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese called for a national referendum on South Africa's Constitution and for the country to exit the 1951 Refugee Convention
• The withdrawal came after widespread unrest in Durban and Soweto, where vehicles were torched and shops looted over public anger at the asylum directive

SOUTH AFRICA — March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese has called on Parliament to hold a national referendum on the Constitution and for South Africa to withdraw from the 1951 Refugee Convention, following the Department of Home Affairs' decision to pull back a directive that had ordered Refugee Reception Offices (RROs) to resume processing new asylum seeker applications.

The Director-General of Home Affairs announced the withdrawal on 9 October 2026, citing the rapid deterioration of conditions at reception offices after the directive took effect on 28 September. Officials at RROs were placed at risk, and public safety concerns emerged at several reception sites within days of implementation.

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What triggered the directive withdrawal

The September directive was an operational instruction designed to give effect to a Constitutional Court ruling handed down on 7 July 2026. That judgment struck down provisions of the Refugees Act that had permitted officials to turn away applicants on procedural grounds, including irregular entry, the absence of an asylum transit visa, or failure to report within prescribed timeframes, without first assessing the merits of a protection claim.

Following the directive's implementation, unrest broke out in Durban and Soweto. Vehicles were torched, shops looted, and other properties damaged as communities voiced opposition to the asylum policy. The Home Affairs Department stated it would pursue a fresh process to determine how best to comply with the binding court order.

Nkosikhona Phakel'umthakathi Ndabandaba, speaking from the scene of the unrest in Durban's Central Business District, urged calm and warned leaders against encouraging communities to engage in acts of destruction. Several people were arrested during the disorder.

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Home Affairs withdraws asylum directive citing staff safety and public order concerns

Ngobese calls for democratic accountability

Responding to the developments on her X account, Ngobese drew a distinction between the withdrawn directive and the court ruling underpinning it.

"The Directive from Home Affairs is withdrawn, the Constitutional Court Judgement IS NOT," she wrote.

She argued that both Parliament and the courts must ultimately be accountable to citizens.

View the post on X:

South Africans support her

Social media users broadly echoed her position.

@LeratoM1v said:

"We vote for parties to come into power, not courts and judges, and if the laws don’t serve the interests of the citizens, those laws must be revoked or amended. Constitutional laws were written by people and can be removed by them!"

@spinnermag said:

"The Constitution is supposed to protect citizens from government; that's their priority. Government is supposed to protect its citizens. In our country, things are working in the opposite direction. We marched peacefully, and they thought we were mad. Now we have had enough."

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@Ndabzito1 said:

"A win will be a win when that foolish judgement is withdrawn completely. This Home Affairs one is just a stunt."

@anesu_africa remarked:

Democracy aligns with Human rights, sisi. That is why many South Africwant theants death penalty to return, but it can't because humans have rights."

Anele Mdoda calls out Home Affairs

In a related article, Briefly News reported on Anele Mdoda’s questions to Home Affairs after footage showed long queues of asylum seekers, with few women or children visible.

The surge in applications followed a Constitutional Court ruling that removed procedural barriers for people seeking asylum without valid visas, leaving some reception offices struggling to process applicants.

Source: Briefly News