Application to interdict respondent from denying applicant use of regular passport and to review and set aside the declaration of the passport as null and void to be irregular, unconstitutional and unlawful – whether applicant was entitled to a hearing before the decision was made – whether applicant established he has a right to the passport – whether respondents were correct to deny applicant re-entry into Lesotho – issuance of passport to applicant illegal and cannot be
sanctioned - applicant not entitled to the audi alteram partem before the decision was taken – respondents’ decision to deny applicant re-entry unlawful.
Case summary
The court determined that issuing a passport to the applicant, who was not and still is not a citizen of Lesotho, was illegal. Even if the Minister's reliance on a wrong provision was considered, the court could not allow this illegality to persist. The court also analyzed the lawfulness of the respondents' denial of re-entry, recognizing the applicant's right to stay in Lesotho until legally admitted elsewhere. The respondents' claim of fraudulent refugee status was considered irrelevant, as expulsion is prohibited until legal admission into another country occurs.
The court dismissed the application seeking to invalidate the decision that nullified the applicant's passport. The application succeeded in parts to the extent that the respondents were stopped from denying the applicant re-entry into Lesotho as a refugee and to deal with his expulsion according to the law. Each party was ordered to bear their own costs.
The court relied on the decision in Administrator Transvaal & Others v Traub & Others together with other decisions which held that the issuance of the passport to the applicant who at that time was not and is to date not a citizen of Lesotho was not sanctioned by the law and was illegal.
The respondents' assertion of fraudulent refugee status was deemed irrelevant, as expulsion is barred until the applicant received legal admission into another country.
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