South Africa temporarily halted the deportation of two hundred foreigners on Tuesday after a legal challenge by a human rights group.
The group said authorities were unfairly targeting them following anti-migrant riots in which seven people were killed.
More than 800 undocumented migrants have been arrested across South Africa in the past three weeks under “Operation Fiela”.
A series of raids launched after last month’s violence which was centred on the province of KwaZulu Natal.
Lawyers for a Human Rights group filed a petition in court on Tuesday seeking legal access to detainees arrested last week.
They asked the Home Affairs Ministry to halt their deportations which were due to start on Wednesday.
The government has denied that Operation Fiela is unfairly targeting foreign nationals.
