South Africa's Supreme Court has ruled that foreign nationals cannot reapply for asylum once their application is rejected.
The Constitutional Court said that allowing unlimited repeated applications without appropriate legislation could create a “never-ending cycle”, preventing deportations and creating administrative chaos.
Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs in South Africa's coalition government, welcomed the decision as a “major victory” against the “abuse” of the refugee system.
The ruling ends a long-running case that was brought by two Burundi nationals who re-applied for asylum in 2018 after their applications were rejected in 2014.
Both argued that their new applications should be considered because Burundi was hit by political violence during the 2015 presidential election.
At least 70 people were killed in unrest after then-President Pierre Nkurunziza made a controversial decision to seek a third term.
Burundi won the case in the Supreme Court of Appeal, but, in a majority decision, the Constitutional Court overturned its decision. It is the final court of appeal.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that in 2025, South Africa was hosting more than 167,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.