South Africa Extends Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs) By Another Year
The South African government has extended the validity of Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs) until November 28, 2025.
Previously, ZEP holders were required to apply by Friday, November 29, 2024, for a one-year exemption that would allow them to stay and work in South Africa until November 2025, or face deportation.
However, the ZEP Holders Association (ZEPHA) raised concerns that the backlog at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) made it impossible for many holders to meet the application deadline.
In response, South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, granted a reprieve to ZEP holders by extending the permits for an additional year.
Schreiber announced the extension in a notice issued Friday, explaining that the extra time would allow for further consultation with ZEP holders and other stakeholders regarding the future of the current arrangement. Reads the notice:
1. I, Dr L. A. Schreiber, MP, Minister of Home Affairs, with the powers bestowed upon me in terms of section 31(2)(b) of the Immigration Act, (“Immigration Act”) have decided to extend the validity of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (“ZEP”) until 28 November 2025 in order for me to fulfill 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.
2. The reactivation of the Immigration Advisory Board (“IAB”) is currently underway and its first task will be to consider, advise and enable the steps required for compliance with the Order of the High Court on the future of the ZEP. In order to give the IAB time to properly do its work, and a fair process to be followed, I direct that:
2.1 existing ZEPS shall be deemed to remain valid for the next (12) twelve months;
2.2. no holder of a ZEP may be arrested, ordered to depart or be detained for purposes of deportation or deported in terms of section 34 of the Immigration Act for any reason related to him or her not having any valid exemption certificate;
2.3. the holder of an exemption certificate may be allowed to enter into or depart from the Republic of South Africa in terms of section 9 of the Immigration 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 Republic, save for the reason of not having a valid visa endorsed in his or her passport; and
2.4.no ZEP holder should be required to produce a valid exemption certificate, visa or an authorisation letter to remain in the Republic as contemplated in section 32(1) of the Immigration Act when making an application for any category of the visa for a temporary sojourn in the Republic as contemplated in section 10(2) of the Immigration Act.
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