Abstract
While South Africa’s 1998 progressive refugee legislation remains largely intact, the government’s reframing of migration as a security issue has resulted in a gap between law and policy as the government pursues security-based policy goals. The securitisation of migration includes a more expansive definition of who is an illegal migrant and a narrowed scope for obtaining legal migrant status. As a result, migrants and refugees are often unable to access the rights guaranteed to them by law. The actions of the relatively autonomous Department of Home Affairs are guided by securitisation goals at the expense of legal obligations, especially in the areas of asylum law and immigration detentions. Recent changes to the Immigration Act have also created barriers to migration for skilled and unskilled migrants alike.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Handmaker (2009).
- 3.
Lawyers for Human Rights v Minister of Home Affairs and Others (2017) ZACC 22.
- 4.
Buthelezi (1997).
- 5.
Comments by Deputy Trade and Industry Minister Elizabeth Thabethe at the National Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises Summit, 2013, cited in ‘Foreign-owned businesses hampering rural growth – dti’ City Press (10 October 2013), available at https://www.news24.com/Archives/City-Press/Foreign-owned-businesses-hampering-rural-growth-dti-20150429, accessed 29 March 2018.
- 6.
African National Congress (2012).
- 7.
Mabuza and Dlamini (2015).
- 8.
Magubane (2015).
- 9.
See, e.g., Gastrow and Amit (2015).
- 10.
African National Congress (2012).
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Comments by Maggie Maunye, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Home Affairs, reported in A Makinana, ‘“Xenophobic” Committee Head Lashed’ The Star (30 June 2011), available at www.iol.co.za/news/politics/xenophobic-committee-head-lashed-1.1091179#.VPQ-23yUcrU, accessed 29 March 2018.
- 13.
See, e.g., DHA (2010).
- 14.
Nshimbi and Fioramonti (2013).
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
Ibid.
- 17.
Zimbabwean Documentation Project (2011).
- 18.
African National Congress (2012).
- 19.
There are two offices in Pretoria, but one provides only limited access for new applicants.
- 20.
Although no plans have been made public, the Department has publicly referred to border ‘centres’ whose exact nature is unclear. At the DHA’s request, the Department of Public Works drew up plans for refugee camps.
- 21.
- 22.
- 23.
DHA, Asylum Matrix.
- 24.
Although the government has stated that 95% of asylum seekers are economic migrants, more claims are rejected as unfounded than as manifestly unfounded.
- 25.
DHA, Asylum Matrix.
- 26.
LS v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) SGHC, unreported case no. 49231/10, Answering Affidavit, para 26.
- 27.
Amit (2012c).
- 28.
Ulde v Minister of Home Affairs (2009) (4) SA 522 (SCA).
- 29.
The Refugees Act lays out a very narrow set of circumstances under which an asylum seeker can be detained, but never for the purposes of deportation.
- 30.
- 31.
KA v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) SGHC, unreported case no. 00189/2010, Supplementary Answering Affidavit, para 47.
- 32.
Ibid. paras 27–29.
- 33.
Mustafa Aman Arse v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) SGHC, unreported case no. 52898/09, Respondent Heads of Argument, para 35.
- 34.
AS v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) SGHC, unreported case no. 101/2010.
- 35.
The Act took effect in October 2015, following the publication of accompanying regulations.
- 36.
- 37.
DHA (2017).
- 38.
George (2013).
- 39.
Ibid.
- 40.
Ibid.
- 41.
Ibid.
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Children’s Act (No. 38, 2005)
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Refugees Act (No. 130, 1998)
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Cases
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AOL v Minister of Home Affairs (2006) (2) SA 8 (D)
Arse v Minister of Home Affairs (2010a) (SGHC), unreported case no. 52898/09
Arse v Minister of Home Affairs (2010b) (SCA) (7) BCLR 640 (12 March 2010).
AS v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) (SGHC) unreported case no. 101/2010 (12 January 2010).
Bula v Minister of Home Affairs (2012) (4) SA 560 (SCA).
Centre for Child Law v Minister of Home Affairs (2005) (6) SA 50 (T).
Dawood v Minister of Home Affairs (2000) ZACC 8.
Discovery Health Limited v CCMA (2008) 7 BLLR 633 (LC).
Eisenberg and Associates v Director General, Department of Home Affairs (2012) (3) SA 508 (WCC).
HH & HH (2010) (SGHC) unreported case no. 00187/2010 (19 January 2010).
Hirsi v Minister of Home Affairs (2008) (WCHC) unreported case no. 16863/08 (22 October 2008).
Jeebhai v Minister of Home Affairs (2009) (5) SA 54 (SCA).
KA v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) (SGHC) unreported case no. 00189/2010 (19 January 2010).
KHA v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) (SGHC) unreported case no. 19262/10 (1 June 2010).
Kiliko v Minister of Home Affairs (2006) (4) SA 114 (C).
Larbi-Odam v Member of the Executive Council for Education (North-West Province) (1997) ZACC 16.
Lawyers for Human Rights v Minister of Home Affairs (2004) (4) SA 125 (CC).
Lawyers for Human Rights v Minister of Home Affairs and Others (2017) ZACC 22
LS v Minister of Home Affairs (2010) (SGHC) unreported case no. 49231/10
Mayongo v Refugee Appeal Board (2007) ZAGPHC 17.
Minister of Home Affairs v Watchenuka (2003) ZASCA 142.
Ndikumdavyi v Valkenberg Hospital (2012) ZALCCT 15.
Pembele v Minister of Home Affairs (1996) (CPD) unreported case no. 15931/96 (10 December 1996).
Somali Refugee Forum v Minister of Home Affairs (2005) (TPD) unreported case no. 32489/05 (November 2005).
Tafira v Minister of Home Affairs (2006) ZAGPHC 136.
Ulde v Minister of Home Affairs (2009) (4) SA 522 (SCA).
Van Garderen N.O. v Refugee Appeal Board (2007) (TPD) unreported case no. 30720/06 (19 June 2007).
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Amit, R. (2022). Above the Law: Securitisation in South Africa’s Migration Management Regime. In: Foblets, MC., Carlier, JY. (eds) Law and Migration in a Changing World. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99508-3_15
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