Frantic scramble as December deadline looms for 178,000 Zimbabwean Exemption Permit holders

23 Aug 2022

Fewer than 4% (6,000 out of 178,000) of Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders have made representations to the Department of Home Affairs to say why their documents should not be terminated in December. But the permit holders have to contend with dysfunctional Home Affairs offices and high costs.

Financial constraints and hard-to-meet criteria for alternative permits will lock thousands of Zimbabweans out of their lives in South Africa as the invalidation of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) looms.

Liesl Fourie, an attorney at Nelson Mandela University’s Refugee Rights Centre, says: “ZEP holders have to apply for alternative immigration visas… to legalise their stay in SA. These visa applications are R1,750 per visa, plus an additional R800 for the SA Police [Service] clearance certificate, plus medical and radiological reports.

“In addition, they also require a Zimbabwean police clearance certificate and a Zimbabwean passport which will be valid for many months after the expiry of the visa that they are applying for.

“All of this costs money. Each family member, including minor children, who reside in SA, will have to make their application, so the cost increases exponentially with every family member present in SA.”

According to the Department of Home Affairs, fewer than 4% (6,000 out of 178,000) ZEP holders have made representations to the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to say why their documents should not be terminated in December.

Read in Daily Maverick: "Government (again) defends controversial decision to scrap Zimbabwean permits"

Precarious situation

Arnold Bosso (31) has lived in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal for 14 years and says he is in a precarious situation as he is a construction worker, which is not considered to be a critical skill. Outside of that, he doesn’t qualify or have the money to acquire a different permit for himself or his family of six.

“When I came to SA I had my excavator operator’s certificate, but I couldn’t find a job. Then I went to college and did office administration and business management. But it was hard for me to find a job till now and I decided to do construction for me and my family to survive. We’ve got drivers, housemaids, they were told to apply for critical skills but they don’t qualify,” Bosso said.

The Cabinet created the Dispensation of Zimbabweans Project (DZP) in 2009. The beneficiaries of this project remained in South Africa as holders of permits issued under the subsequent ministerial exemption dispensation. With the 2010 World Cup looming, it brought skills to the construction and hospitality sectors, which needed labour at the time. People such as Bosso filled this need by specialising in these industries to make a living.

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“The minister of home affairs already decided in 2021 to terminate the ZEP visas. He simply afforded ZEP visa holders a one-year extension on the validity of their ZEP visas to legalise their stay in SA by obtaining an alternative visa — for example, work, study or relatives visas — before the end of 2022,” said Fourie.

“This extension was probably only granted because the minister of home affairs made the announcement not to extend the ZEP visas so late in 2021 and also bearing in mind the large backlog in visa applications at the DHA occasioned by the Covid-19 lockdown [the department worked at reduced capacity at its head office, where visa applications are processed].

“It will therefore not serve any purpose for ZEP holders to make submissions; they have to apply for alternative visas within our immigration system to legalise their stay in SA.”

Survival choice

Home Affairs Director-General Livhuwani Tommy Makhode asserts that Zimbabwe is in a much better state than it was when asylum was first warranted and therefore Zimbabweans can go home. However, Bosso says things may be different, but people are still suffering in his home country.

“Zimbabwe doesn’t have industries to accommodate all the people who want work; nothing is much better in Zimbabwe. Coming to SA was the best choice for us to survive. They can say whatever they want, that Zimbabwe is better, but people are suffering. For example, how can you say a country is better when they don’t have their [own]) currency?”

Fourie says activists and organisations such as the Helen Suzman Foundation have faced challenges while trying to fight the termination of the ZEP.

zep motsoaledi Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Alon Skuy)

“The minister’s decision not to extend the ZEP visa is an administrative act and several organisations have taken this decision on judicial review. All of these applications taking the minister’s decision on review have been opposed by the DHA, and Minister [Aaron] Motsoaledi has even gone as far as instituting ‘Slapp suits’ against the legal practitioners representing the ZEP holders in these matters,” she said.

“The current application for judicial review brought by the Helen Suzman Foundation is probably the best chance of success that ZEP holders might have in having their special dispensation visas extended.

Read in Daily Maverick: "Termination of Zimbabwean Exemption Permits smacks of xenophobia, says Helen Suzman Foundation"

“It is, however, also being opposed and the minister of home affairs, in addition, is trying his best to discredit the Helen Suzman Foundation in the media.

“Having regard to the nature of this application and the court roll in the Western Cape High Court where this application was launched, I doubt that this matter will be finalised before the end of 2022 unless special arrangements/agreements are made to deal with this issue on an urgent basis and for the court to allocate a date for the hearing thereof,” Fourie added. DM/MC

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Precarious situation

Survival choice