Privilege Ncube, one of the Zimbabwean Exception Permit (ZEP) holders from Diepsloot, on Thursday welcomed the high court ruling to set aside Aaron Motsoaledi’s decision to terminate the ZEP regime, but the future, Ncube said, is uncertain.
The mother of three who settled in South Africa in 2009, said their future still lay in the hands of Motsoaledi, who is yet to decide on his next move.
“We are still in limbo. Our future is still uncertain, but now there is a bit of hope,” she said.
She pinned her hopes on Motsoaledi considering the situation back in Zimbabwe when he decides on their future.
The high court has set aside the minister’s decision, saying it was “unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid”. But this judgment does not mean the minister can never terminate the permits.
TimesLIVE Premium reported that the judgment remits the matter back to the minister “for reconsideration, following a fair process” and a new decision within a year.
The 34-year-old married woman said sending them back to their home country would be like a “mass massacre” because none of them who are in South Africa would have jobs or get assistance from the Zimbabwean government.
“They can say otherwise, but we know that we will get no help whatsoever,” she said.
Ncube added that the debacle and court cases have been a source of panic and anxiety for many ZEP holders. She said the permits were first introduced when she was 20 years old.
“I have basically grown up here,” she added.
We have faced quite a lot of discrimination since the announcement of the termination of our permits — from banks, licensing departments and schools.
— Privilege Ncube
Her first job was in South Africa and with the permit she was able to pursue her studies through night school and long-distance learning. She said had she not been given the permit, she wouldn’t have completed her studies.
After years of schooling, she said she acquired a job as a junior receptionist and was promoted to practice manager.
“Had I stayed in Zimbabwe, my only option would have been to join the police force or the army,” she said.
She added the ZEP gave her an opportunity to emancipate herself from her situation in her home country. She said her children have lived their entire lives in South Africa and taking them to Zimbabwe would be cruel.
“We have faced quite a lot of discrimination since the announcement of the termination of our permits — from banks, licensing departments and schools,” she said.
Moreboys Munetsi, 41, the owner of a funeral insurance and repatriation company in Johannesburg said though the matter is remitted back to the minister for consideration, he doesn’t trust the decision will work for ZEP holders.
“There are reasons why the minister didn’t follow a consultation processes from the first time,” he said.
He believed the minister deliberately decided not to follow the processe as it would be used against him.
“Now the court says he should do that. I don’t trust the minister. Even though people make their submissions to the minister I don’t think he is going to reconsider his decision and not terminate the ZEP permits,” he said.
Munetsi settled in South Africa in 2004. At the time he worked as a general worker on one of the farms in the Western Cape, saved money and enrolled into a security school and acquired a certificate.
When he started working as a security guard he saved money and studied towards an LLB degree atUnisa.
After acquiring his degree he decided to venture into his business, which he said had hired more than 200 employees from South Africa and Zimbabwe.
“I decided to focus on my insurance and repatriation business in SA. I am doing my master’s in law at the University of Venda, specialising in human rights,” he said.
He said the influx of people from Zimbabwe would continue for as long as the South African government doesn’t reprimand the Zanu-PF-led government.
“I feel sorry for children who were born to Zimbabwean parents here in South Africa. They see this country as their home. Imagine one day their parents telling them, ‘we are going far to another country’, a different environment where there are no jobs.
“Parents won’t be able to support them, so we definitely need to think about the impact and the pain that this is going to cause to ordinary people,” he said.
Zimbabwean Immigration Federation (ZIF) chairperson Luke Dzviti said the court’s decision had a significant and positive impact on his fellow ZEP holders who were going to lose the legal protection they have without proper procedure being followed.
“We welcome the court ruling and it also shows that justice is still prevailing here. We are glad, one year means a lot,” he said.
He said the minister needed to regularise ZEP holders without hostile conditions.
“The only way for him to get rid of illegal immigrants is to regularise them. There is no way the government will be able to get rid of three-million illegal migrants,” he said.
The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) said the judgment was of huge significance for about 178,000 ZEP holders who have lived in South Africa legally for almost 15 years, finding that they are entitled to a fair process, due consultation and clear reason, demonstrating good cause when calamitous decisions are made regarding their lives and livelihoods.
HSF said the decision is one of ordinariness for on “these issues our laws and constitution have long been clear. Where the exercise of public power will have a drastic effect on the rights, lives and livelihoods of any person, it cannot rationally be made without affording the affected people an opportunity to make representations”.
It said in its restatement of this fundamental principle of law, the court upholds and safeguards the rights not only of ZEP holders but of every South African.
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