By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Home Affairs minister Dr Leon Schreiber has extended the deadline for Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEPs) to 2025.
In a government gazette on Friday, Schreiber announced that he had extended the controversial ZEP to 28 November 2025.
ZEP holders had until Friday (29 November) to apply for a one-year exemption that would allow them to stay and work in SA until November 2025. After this date, those without the required visa or waiver are theoretically at risk of deportation.
In the gazette, Schreiber said: “[I have done this] in order for me to fulfil the duty placed on me by the Gauteng High Court to consult the affected ZEP holders and all other stakeholders on the future of the current dispensation.”
In June 2023, the High Court in Pretoria confirmed that the termination of the ZEP was unlawful, and a subsequent appeal of the decision was refused by the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.
Schreiber said the reactivation of the Immigration Advisory Board (IAB) was currently underway and that its first task would be to consider, advise and enable the steps required for compliance with the order of the High Court on the future of the ZEP.
He, however, gave ZEP holders until today, 29 November 2024, to obtain new permits that will allow them to reside and work in South Africa until 28 November 2025.
In August, Schreiber announced that the department had managed to process 60,582 of the 178,000 applications.
The ZEP has allowed Zimbabweans to live, work and study in South Africa since 2009. This has been part of the Dispensation of Zimbabweans Project. 066 473 4819
The conditions of the extension of the ZEP mean that the Zimbabweans will be allowed to work, seek employment and conduct business in South Africa during the period of validity or to apply for a new permit.