The Department of Home Affairs has referred an alleged coordinated disinformation campaign surrounding a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum applications to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), warning that false claims risk inflaming tensions and inciting violence.
The department said the matter would be handled under the IEC’s Code of Conduct on Countering Disinformation, published in June. The code prohibits the publication or spread of known false statements intended to disrupt electoral proceedings, create hostility or illegitimately influence voter choices.
At the centre of the controversy is the Constitutional Court’s binding judgment of 7 July 2026 in the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town matter. The court ruled that asylum seekers cannot be barred from the asylum system, detained or deported solely because of procedural or technical immigration errors, including irregular entry into the country or failure to meet strict reporting deadlines.
False claims circulating online have alleged that Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber, departmental officials or political parties deliberately suspended “good cause” interviews for asylum seekers. The department described these assertions as “categorically false.”
“Despite it being public knowledge that this case was vigorously opposed by the Department and that it led to a binding ruling of the Constitutional Court, nefarious actors have launched a large-scale disinformation campaign targeting the Minister of Home Affairs and other officials,” the department stated.
An operational directive was later issued solely to give effect to the judgment, as is standard practice to ensure compliance with rulings of the highest court. The department also rejected claims that the judgment grants asylum seekers citizenship or provides for the blanket legalisation of foreign nationals, calling these “categorically false.”
“The deliberate spreading of disinformation designed to inflame tensions and violence is a threat to the stability of our society,” Home Affairs said. It urged South Africans to verify information before sharing it, particularly claims that could trigger hostility towards officials.
The department emphasised that respect for binding court judgments is fundamental to the rule of law and South Africa’s constitutional democracy, and that it remains constitutionally obliged to implement the ruling regardless of its earlier opposition to the case.
