Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) holders have been given a further six months to extend the validity of their permits. Initially, their exemption was due to end on 30 June but the Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, has since announced an extended grace period. Since 2009, Zimbabweans who fled their country due to political and economic conflicts were granted exemption permits allowing them to live and work in Mzansi. In December 2021, Motsoaledi announced the termination of the ZEP.
MAKE OTHER MEANS
This gives 178 000 ZEP holders a further six months to apply for alternative visas allowing them to remain and work in South Africa. Motsoaledi has approved thousands of waiver applications for the affected Zimbabwean nationals. This has significantly increased the number of visa and waiver applications. The department says it is now dealing with these applications. "The processing of visa applications has been outsourced to VFS Global, which reportedly receives between 1 000 and 1 500 visa applications daily from affected Zimbabweans. Home Affairs says it has employed more staff to handle the increase in applications," the department said in a statement. Home Affairs said it took into consideration, "submissions received from the affected Zimbabwean nationals, relevant officials of the Department of Home Affairs and other interested parties and decided to issue another Immigration Directive, extending the validity of Zimbabwean Exemption Permits for a further period of six months, ending on 31 December 2023."
COURT CASE
The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) along with three other civil society organisations, took the Department of Home Affairs to court, challenging their decision to scrap the ZEP. The hearing started in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria between 11 and 13th April this year. HSF advocate, Steven Budlender SC, argued that Motsoaledi's decision to effectively terminate the ZEPs was procedurally unfair and irrational for two reasons. They wanted the court to declare the minister's decision invalid and to have it set aside. Judge Colleen Collis, who was leading the full bench, reserved the ruling in the matter.
