The court regarded the interdict against prosecution as highly irregular and insupportable.
The court also held that the order declaring the respondent to be a naturalized citizen must have been founded on the respondent having established a right to be granted that status. A refugee who flees to the country of Lesotho is dealt with under the Refugee Act and may apply for citizenship by naturalisation as per section 14 if he satisfies the Minister of Home Affairs that he meets the stipulated requirements. However, as per the Lesotho Citizenship Order 1971, there is no point in swearing someone in as a citizen in the absence of a certificate. The respondent claimed that his naturalization certificate was wrongfully withheld from him. This assertion was proven to be incorrect as his period of residence in Lesotho suggested otherwise. It surfaced that the respondent had arrived in Lesotho in 2005 and made his application prematurely.
Naturalization; Rights of Refugee to administrative justice; Escaping persecution based on threats to life
The appellants sought an order overturning the order of the court a quo. The respondent was the applicant in the High Court proceedings, where he successfully brought an application on an urgent basis. The appellants sought to have the order of the court a quo set aside. In terms of this order, the respondent was declared a naturalized citizen and the Minister of Home Affairs was ordered to swear him in within 14 days of the order. The respondent had claimed that he had been subject to harassment and occasioned by regular investigation without any formal charges against him, and the court a quo issued an interdict which amounted to a blanket indemnity from prosecution.
The appeal was upheld. The orders in the court a quo were set aside and replaced with the following order: "The application is dismissed and the applicant is ordered to pay the respondents' costs."
The Judge of Appeal considered the order of the court a quo to be incorrect based on the evidence and its own assessment of the circumstances.