In 2007, Sabin Sabwa was granted refugee status in South Africa after being tortured in his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He has unsuccessfully attempted to get asylum in the United States because he says an anti-foreigner mob planned to kill him in Cape Town.

Listen to this article 8 min Listen to this article 8 min A legal saga playing out in the US has revealed how a man from the DRC was tortured in his home country over his political stance, resulting in him seeking refuge in South Africa.

But Sabin Kahamba Sabwa says he attracted the attention of police in South Africa, and he became the target of people who considered him a foreigner who was taking jobs from them.

There have been incidents of xenophobia previously in South Africa.

Sabwa, who was born in the DRC and became a permanent resident of South Africa, travelled to the US in 2019 and tried to secure a review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision that rejected his asylum application.

Then, on 10 July, a US appeals court upheld the decision, meaning he has not been granted asylum.

It was found that while individuals may have targeted Sabwa in SA, the government had not harassed or persecuted him.

Tortured and arrested

Sabwa was born in the DRC where, at some point, he became involved in religious communities.

He joined the Viens et Vois Church in 1997 and four years later, in 2001, got...