The Constitutional Court has stated that asylum seekers are
entitled to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and
administratively fair. And seekers are entitled to adequate
reasons. In this case, the Refugee Determination Officer failed to
measure up to this. The reasons are neither intelligible nor
informative, Western Cape High Court judge Patrick Gamble said in
his ruling this week, as reported by GroundUp.
The matter before him was that of LM, who fled the DRC with her
aunt in 2007 when she was about 12 years old. She settled in the
Western Cape and attended school there.
She was refused asylum in 2014 and in 2016 was threatened with
deportation because, officials said, she does not know her own
country and had given contradictory versions of her date of birth
when she arrived in South Africa.
LM, in her affidavit, said she had some recollections of living
with her mother in the midst of a brutal civil war.
Rebels began burning houses and when I was 12, I recall my mother
handing me over to my aunty, who took me and her own child to
South Africa. It was a long journey.

She said she recalled going to the Refugee Reception Office in
Cape Town in 2007 with her aunt when she was 12. She was granted a
temporary refugee permit.
But according to the document she was born in 1987, not September
1994. And when she applied again in 2014 her asylum was refused,
and in 2016 she was threatened with deportation, on the basis of
discrepancies in her birth date and of apparent contradictions in
what she said about the DRC.
LM said she had only realised that certain details on the form,
including her date of birth, were incorrect when she applied later
for another permit and when her English had

improved.
I was scared. I could not understand English. They took my
fingerprints. I had no idea what was being said, she said in her
affidavit.
Gamble said it appeared as though LM’s date of birth had been
overwritten by a marker pen to reflect the date as September 1987,
not September 1994. It is impossible to detect if it was changed,
he said. But the form was clearly filled out by different people,
presumably the official and then a French speaker, the aunt, who
was used as an interpreter, he said.
Regarding the state’s conduct in the litigation, Gamble said there
had been no meaningful engagement.
The response is largely made up of rote allegations, a repetition
of meaningless mantra. They gave no substantive reasons to refuse
to grant her asylum and dismissed the current turmoil and internal
unrest [in the DRC] as lacking any relevance.
Instead, her application was deemed to be “manifestly unfounded”.
International authorities all appear to adhere to the principle
that such a finding can only apply to the clearest of cases, to
weed out fraudulent or bogus claims, said Gamble.
She was at least entitled to know what aspects of her case were
untrue and which were attributable to possible misunderstanding,
given her age when the first form was completed and the
complications arising from language and interpretation.
Gamble reviewed the decisions to refuse her asylum and set aside
authorisation for her deportation. He specifically ruled that the
same official must not be involved in the reconsideration of her
application.
www.samigration.com V.3111

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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