15 December 2021
Prosperity Sikhosana
Last month the South African government announced that it would not renew Zimbabwe Exemption Permits at the expiry of the documents.
The permits are a special dispensation by Pretoria only applicable to applicants who were holders of Zimbabwean Special Dispensation permit (ZSP) whose lifespan expired at end of December 2017.
The permits allowed the holders to live, work, conduct business, study and financially transact in South Africa for the duration of the permit.
The South African Cabinet decision was announced by the Minister in the Presidency of South Africa Mondli Gungubele.
This caused a furore from several quarters in and outside South Africa.
The statement read:
“The first Zimbabwean Special Dispensation started in 2009 and was called the Dispensation for Zimbabwean Permits. It provided for the documentation of qualifying Zimbabweans for a five-year period.
“In 2014, the dispensation was extended by three years and called the Zimbabwean Special Permit. The current ZEP was initiated in 2017 and comes to an end on 31 December 2021.”
The move, was by some considered was a way by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, to ganner for votes in the just ended Municipal.
There had been several protests and demonstration by South Africans against migrant workers. The locals were demanding that all foreigners be removed from the country as they were causing a whole lot of misnomers in the Southern African country.
The biggest bone of contention was the allegations that Zimbabwean permit holders were being favoured for jobs.
Another was that Zimbabweans were leading as perpetrators of crime.
However, since the by-elections have passed and the ANC performed below average, the government has seen that there is no longer need to appease the angry South Africans who were violently threatening to maime workers of foreign origin and even truck drivers.
Yesterday news from all quarters was awash with a statement, purpotedly from the foreign ministry stating that the government had withdrawn the threat not to renew the ZEPs and eventually deport the holders of such permits once they expired in December 2021.
A statement released yesterday by Zimbabwe Community South Africa read:
“We have seen a message circulating on social media with the headline withdrawal of the immigration directive on Zimbabwe Exemption Permits.
“This is not a reversal of the decision by cabinet not to renew ZEP
Permits. The revocation is meant for the initial directive which told organisations to render their services in the next 12 months after 31 December 2021 until 2022 on condition that:
“-ZEP holders must produce a proof of application for a Mainstream visa. Of which proof must be a VES receipt.
“Those that wanted to travel outside the country would have been allowed to do so freely if they had proof of application until 31 December 2022.”
While the directives have been withdrawn, there has not been any information on new directives about the ZEP.
More information is yet to be communicated as engagements on the matter have already begun, noted the statement.
Etv News last evening noted,
“The South African Home Affairs said cabinet has not decided to withdraw the statement of not issuing the ZEPs. This means that thousands of Zimbabweans still stand a chance to be unemployed.
However, they still have a grace period of 12 months. In the meantime, they still have access to their bank accounts.”
Many Zimbabweans celebrated this unclear statement stating their hope of having their permits renewed.
Sharon Ekambaram, Head of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme at Lawyers for Human Rights in Johannesburg welcomed the withdraw:
“It does call for a debate on how we manage movement in the region without infringing on people’s human rights and their dignity,” said Ekambaram.
This comes after ZEP Holders Association and non-profit organisation African Amity filed for an urgent application before the High Court in Johannesburg to overturn the government’s decision.
The move by South African cabinet would have forced about 200 000 Zimbabwean Exemption Permit holders to leave the country.
This would have caused chaos in the lives of Zimbabweans living in South Africa as children will not be able to register for school, employers will not renew work contracts thus causing great suffering for Zimbabweans whose bread winners are based in South Africa.
The nation still awaits the comment from South African cabinet.
Zim GBC News