Several Zimbabwean lecturers have approached the courts to challenge their dismissal by South Africa’s Department of Higher Education (DHE).
The DHE advised several Zimbabwean and Lesotho lecturers on exemption permits that their services are no longer required.
The <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Zimbabwean_Exemption_Permit_Visa">Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP)</a> system was introduced more than a decade ago to regularise the status of Zimbabweans who sought refuge in South Africa at various stages since the turn of the millennium.
The Department of Home Affairs last year announced that the ZEP system would be terminated in June 2023, by which time ZEP holders would have to apply for ‘regular’ SA visas.
The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Holders Association (ZEPHA) argues that Home Affairs’ critical skills list, which determines the categories of skills needed by applicants to apply for regular visas, is designed to exclude the majority of ZEP holders.
Now lecturers with ZEP permits are being let go.
In one letter of dismissal, a senior lecturer and ZEP holder was simply told that his contract expires on 31 March. No reason was given.
ZEPHA says it is, however, clearly because the lecturer is in SA on a ZEP permit. Simba Chitando, legal representative for Zepha said:
<blockquote>
I can confirm that Zepha just instructed our legal team to approach the high court to review and set aside the decision by the Department of Higher Education to let go several ZEP holders who were employed as lecturers at various academic institutions in South Africa.
Targeting ZEP holders for dismissal from employment at higher education institutions is obviously unlawful,” he adds.
The minister of higher education does not know, or appreciate, the fact that this will cause serious harm to the quality and efficiency of higher education in South Africa and considering the role South African higher education institutions play in the region, it will hurt the continent. It is a decision that ought to be reviewed [and] set aside by our courts.
</blockquote>
The three organisations challenging the decision by the Department of Home Affairs to end the ZEP system are ZEPHA, the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Zimbabwe Immigration Federation.
All three argue in their court papers that the termination of the ZEP system would result in hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans being deported or having to leave voluntarily, with little or no prospect of being reabsorbed into the Zimbabwean economy.
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South Africa: Zimbabwean Lecturers Challenge Dismissal

The South African government says it will not oppose a court application by representatives of children of Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders who are in school.
Some schools in South Africa were preventing the learners from registering due to the uncertain legal status of their parents.
Last week, the ZEP Holders Association (ZEPHA) filed an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court claiming that children of ZEP holders, who had grown up and attended school in SA, were being denied registration at a number of schools in SA.
Cited as respondents were the ministers and departments of basic education and home affairs, as well as Rand Park High School in Johannesburg, one of several schools that has reportedly refused registration to children of ZEP holders. Said ZEPHA in a statement:
<blockquote>
After an exchange of correspondence with the schools and the government, it became apparent that the affected children cannot acquire a study permit, which is a requirement for registration, because their parents are ZEP holders, and the ZEP was terminated on 31 December 2021.
</blockquote>
The state attorney informed ZEPHA’s legal team on Friday that it would not oppose the urgent application, and had instructed Rand Park High School to enroll one of the students denied registration.
The state attorney asked that the matter be removed from the court roll, but ZEPHA has refused.
ZEPHA said it wants the court to make an order that provides blanket protection for all affected students.
Advocate Simba Chitando, who is representing ZEPHA in this case, said:
We’re obviously happy that the government has wisely decided not to oppose this application in court.
<blockquote>
Our instructions are to proceed for an order of court that will assist all affected ZEP children, and not just a few.
Unfortunately, there is widespread xenophobia in South Africa, even in the administrative bodies of academic institutions, coupled with confusion as to the legality of registering students without a study permit, for no fault on the part of the affected children, which is a matter that can only be resolved for the benefit of the public by a binding court order.
</blockquote>
The decision by the SA government not to oppose the urgent application is seen as a major victory for the rights of ZEP holders in SA. | <a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/reprieve-for-zimbabwean-students-denied-school-registration-in-sa/">Moneyweb</a>

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