A lot have been said about the Zimbabwean Exemptions Permit (ZEP).
The permit has in previous months been under so much scrutiny and public debate.
Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi recently lost a court case that anyone could have anticipated was unwinnable. He probably expected to lose it too.
The ZEP was been in use since 2010 and it legalizes the stay of Zimbabweans in South Africa.
He lost it on humanitarian and technical grounds. It prevents him from terminating the South African government’s concession to refugees from neighbouring Zimbabwe nearly 15 years ago.
Zimbabweans had flooded to South Africa in the hope of scoring jobs amid the crunch time their country was going through.
The permits have worked out well for thousands of Zimbabweans.
The Zimbabwe Dispensation Project was the first form of a policy to temporarily accommodate Zimbabwean refugees. It became the Zimbabwean special permit in 2014 and after 2017 it was known as the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP).
But the permit has been under so much scrutiny and debate from numerous political parties.
This is not the first time that this permit has been under so much criticism.
In 2021, home affairs decided to end the special dispensation after a period of grace lasting till the end of 2022 to allow Zimbabweans to regularise their circumstances.
The court victory springs a sprinkling of good news to holders of this permit.
It also means that their stay in South Africa is legalized. This in addition eliminates the issue of illegal immigrants.
A lot is expected to be heard.
Source: https://www.citizen.co.za/news/opinion/migration-why-not-regularise-law-abiding-zep-holders/
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