By Levy Masiteng
The Department of Home Affairs has referred an alleged disinformation campaign surrounding a Constitutional Court ruling on asylum applications to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), as tensions over the reopening of the asylum system spill into protests and disruptions at refugee reception offices.
The department on Wednesday accused “nefarious actors” of deliberately spreading false claims about the court’s July 7 judgment in the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town v Minister of Home Affairs matter.
This included allegations that Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber or political parties had decided to suspend so-called “good cause” interviews for asylum seekers.
“This is categorically false,” the department said.
“The Constitutional Court handed down a binding judgment, which the Department is constitutionally obliged to implement.”
The department said it subsequently issued an operational directive solely to give effect to the judgment.
It warned that the deliberate spread of disinformation designed to inflame
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