South Africa has legalised the queue

A republic is measured by its ability to keep the promises it makes.

The Constitutional Court's July Scalabrini judgment promised that no one may be shut out of the asylum process for entering irregularly, lacking a transit visa or reporting late.

The principle is sound, and it honours a Constitution written by people who knew what it meant to be turned away.

But a patriot is entitled to ask a harder question than whether the judgment is right.

Is the state able to deliver what it now promises? The evidence says it is not.