Refugee Law in South Africa outlines the existing law relating to refugees as reflected in South African legislation and its growing body of refugee law jurisprudence as at 2013, while also paying heed to relevant international law, which remains central to today’s regime of international refugee protection and international jurisprudence. The book also identifies the practice changes resulting from the government’s recent refugee policy shift and considers what may be expected in the future. 

The topics covered in Refugee Law in South Africa include a detailed analysis of the refugee definition in South African law, the process of applying for refugee status, refugee status determination, and the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. The book concludes with an examination of how immigration law and refugee law in South Africa can be reconciled.

• Acknowledgments
• Contributors
• Table of cases
• Table of conventions
• Bibliography

Part 1: Analysing the refugee definition in South African law

• The principle of non-refoulement
• 'Outside the country of nationality': a territorial limitation
• Well-founded fear
• Persecution
• Section 3(b) of the Refugees Act: the OAU Convention's definition of 'refugee'
• Exclusion from refugee status
• Cessation of refugee status

Part II: Application for asylum in South Africa

• Application for asylum: reception
• Refugee status determination
• Reviews and appeals

Part III: Rights of refugees in South Africa

• The civil and political rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa
• The socio-economic rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa

Part IV: Reconciling the immigration and refugee law of South Africa

• Reconciling the immigration and refugee law of South Africa

Supplementary CD containing appendices: legislation, conventions and other useful resources