Immigration Crisis | DHA Minister Dr Leon Schreiber on withdrawn asylum directive

Explosive national fury and rising public unrest erupt as government operations collapse following a landmark Constitutional Court ruling on asylum seekers.

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A massive wave of public outrage, spreading rapidly from KwaZulu-Natal all the way to Gauteng, has taken over the streets as furious citizens confront the Department of Home Affairs over national border security and sovereignty.

Violent scenes and spreading protests have reached a dangerous boiling point, culminating in burning vehicles and chaotic crowds marching directly outside the Constitutional Court.

Tensions flared out of control after the Department of Home Affairs issued an operational directive on September 28 to enforce a July seventh Constitutional Court judgment regarding undocumented asylum seekers.

The highest court in the land ruled against enforcing a “good cause interview”, prohibiting authorities from turning away asylum seekers merely due to non-compliance procedures or irregular entry, citing the legal principle of non-refoulement.

In response, an overwhelming surge of applicants flooded government facilities across the nation, triggering widespread public chaos and an onslaught of digital disinformation claiming that foreign nationals were receiving automatic citizenship and voting rights.

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Appearing in an exclusive broadcast interview with news anchor Kanyi, Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber delivered a fiery defense of his department while laying bare the operational breakdown inside government facilities.

Leon Schreiber clarified that the September 28 operational directive was a routine administrative action executed at an operational level without political party involvement, designed strictly to comply with the binding Constitutional Court mandate.

Addressing the court’s earlier proceedings, Leon Schreiber revealed that Home Affairs originally won its legal arguments in the High Court defending the necessity of good cause interviews, only for the Apex court to overturn the decision on July seventh.

“Now what is important is to indicate that we were concerned even in our submissions before the court about the implications that it could have for our operations”, stated Leon Schreiber.

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The Minister exposed how hypothetical warnings presented to the bench quickly transformed into an untenable operational nightmare that paralyzed state infrastructure within days.

“What has now changed is that we can now say as a fact as a practical reality that our systems really within days became completely overwhelmed and I would say that maybe the scale was even greater than what we initially hypothetically put to the court”, Leon Schreiber revealed.

Confronted with crippling operational paralysis and mounting safety threats to government personnel, the Department of Home Affairs officially withdrew the controversial September 28 directive.

News anchor Kanyi pressed the Minister on how the department intends to navigate the legal chaos, pointing out that Home Affairs on average rejects 95 percent of asylum applications for being completely unfounded.

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Highlighting the deep judicial fracture surrounding the ruling, Kanyi noted that two separate Gauteng High Court judges issued contradictory orders on how to handle detained undocumented asylum seekers facing deportation.

One judge ordered the immediate release of detained migrants into society so they could independently access refugee reception centers, while a second judge ordered Home Affairs to conduct asylum interviews directly inside detention facilities without releasing the detainees.

Leon Schreiber expressed disbelief over the judicial impasse, calling it an extraordinary situation where even the courts cannot agree on how to execute the Apex court’s mandate.

“Not only do we have this constitutional court judgment which the department must implement, but as you have said, the way in which it must be implemented it seems to be something that even a court can’t agree on”, Leon Schreiber stated.

The Minister confirmed that Home Affairs officially filed a strong answering affidavit rejecting the judicial order that demands releasing detained undocumented migrants back into South African communities.

“We are saying that you cannot just release someone who has been arrested for being illegally in the country because they have already demonstrated they don’t care about our laws and if you release them during the process you are effectively releasing them back into society. We don’t agree with that”, Leon Schreiber declared.

The Department of Home Affairs is now preparing for a critical full court hearing convened by the Judge President of the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on October 29, where a full panel of judges will establish legal certainty on whether asylum seekers can be lawfully detained during application processing.

Addressing the national public directly, Leon Schreiber delivered a stern warning regarding rising political disinformation and false claims surrounding the court ruling ahead of upcoming elections.

Leon Schreiber forcefully denounced widespread lies suggesting that the Constitutional Court granted automatic asylum or voting rights to undocumented migrants, while pushing back against personal attacks regarding his own citizenship.

“It has become a very dangerous beast where the claims are now being twisted and it’s being put out as if the constitutional court said everyone should get citizenship. I have seen claims that people are going to be allowed to vote or somehow get automatic asylum rights in South Africa. Not a single thing of that is the truth. They are blatant and verifiable lies”, Leon Schreiber asserted.

The Minister offered absolute assurances to anxious citizens that Home Affairs is actively fighting through court processes to safeguard national security and prevent the release of illegal detainees into society.

The high-stakes legal showdown will reach its ultimate climax on October 29 at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, where judges will decide whether undocumented asylum seekers remain behind bars or are set free into South African towns.

SABC News

Immigration Crisis | DHA Minister Dr Leon Schreiber on withdrawn asylum directive

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