By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Helen Suzman foundation has won Part A of its court application to interdict Home Affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and his department from arresting, deporting and detaining Zimbabweans who doesn’t have a valid permit.
This is pending the outcomes of the second part of the arguments in the application brought by the Foundation.
In 2008 and 2009, during the economic and political strife in Zimbabwe, many of the country’s citizens fled to South Africa. At the time, the South African government decided to create a blanket exemption so that Zimbabweans could get permits to live and work in the country legally.
The permits were extended by creating another permit over the years, which has since become known as the ZEP. About 178 000 ZEP holders have been in South Africa for more than a decade.
The High Court in Pretoria delivered the judgment on Wednesday.
In April this year, the Foundation applied to challenge Motsoaledi’s decision to terminate the ZEPs, affecting about 178 000 Zimbabweans who have lived and worked in SA for over a decade.
“Pending the judgment of this court in the main application under Part B, the respondents are interdicted and restrained from arresting, issuing an order for deportation or detaining any holder of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit for the purposes of deportation in terms of section 34 of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 for any reason related to him or her not having any valid exemption certificate in his or her passport,” the ruling stated.
The judgment also prevents the department from denying entry or departure into or from South Africa.
“Directed that any holder of the ZEP may not be dealt with in terms of sections 29, 30 and 32 of the Immigration Act solely for the reasons that they are a holder of the ZEP; and Directed that the holder of the ZEP may be allowed to enter into or depart from the Republic of South Africa in terms of section 9 of the Act, read together with the Immigration Regulations, 2014, provided that he or she complies with all other requirements for entry into and departure from the country.”
The court has ordered the applicants to set down the main application within 12 months from the order date or risk lapsing the order.
Earlier this month, the department decided to extend the grace period of the ZEPs by six months to the end of December.
The initial deadline was 30 June.
According to the minister, the decision was taken to give the ZEP holders an opportunity to apply for one or other visas provided for in the Immigration Act, which they may qualify for.
Various organisations – including controversial Operation Dudula – have since accused Motsoaledi of failing to protect South Africans, saying the minister has “Sold Out” South Africans.
The ZEP has allowed tens of thousands of Zimbabweans to live, work and study in South Africa since 2009 as part of the Dispensation of Zimbabweans Project (DZP).