Craig Smith, pre-eminent South African immigration lawyer, continues his rich vein of form and was recently victorious in the Western Cape High Court when he argued another highly contentions case opposed by the Department of Home Affairs (“the Department”).
In this much publicised case of M.A.M and Another v Director-General: Home Affairs and Another (23987/2024) [2025] ZAWCHC 226 (29 May 2025), Craig changed the application of the law by putting a stop to poor adjudication practices adopted by home affairs and refugee officials in the adjudication process.
Craig Smith appeared before Judge Da Silva Salie in the matter that was opposed by the Department, wherein she concurred with Craig’s presentation of the case before her and took the Department to task about their deplorable conduct in the manner and lack of proper reasons in their decision-making.
The impact of this judgment reinforces the obligations of Department officials to adjudicate immigration and asylum applications with due diligence and provide adequate reasons that are not akin to “illogical babble’ as Judge Da Silva Salie phrased it in her judgment otherwise such decisions will be set aside by our courts as in this case.