Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders have cautiously welcomed home affairs minister Leon Schreiber's extension of the validity of permits by another year, saying that this provided some clarity and a measure of relief but also added to existing confusion.
Schreiber on Friday announced his decision to extend the permits to November 28 2025 “to fulfil 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”.
Panic ensued among ZEP holders, about 178,000 Zimbabwe nationals, as the deadline for them to apply for new one-year exemption permits approached on Friday. Many feared they would be rendered illegal immigrants after the deadline lapsed without them having their affairs in order.
Zimbabwe Immigration Federation (ZIF) committee member Privilege Ncube said the organisation welcomed Schreiber's decision and was “happy that he decided to follow the court ruling”.
“We're excited. [It's] great but a lot of people saw this [announcement] while they were probably in a queue at VFS. The minister has been in office for a while, he should've issued this a while back because he knew about the court ruling,” she said.
The ZIF detailed the challenging process many ZEP holders faced in the lead-up to the initial Friday deadline. This included issues with making payments, having these allocated and securing appointment dates.
“There's quite a lot that has gone wrong with this process. For starters, VSF's system is overwhelmed and for some reason things are not going well.
“I have two people I have assisted [where] we had to follow up on a payment allocation for five months. This is everyday calling, emailing and you get responses saying it's been allocated but you go to the system and it hasn't.”
Ncube also raised the conundrum faced by those, like her, who successfully applied for waivers in line with former home affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi's directive.
This waives the stringent regulatory requirements normally applicable to general work visa applications.
“I applied for a waiver based on what Motsoaledi said ... now I've got a waiver outcome but it says it is expiring in June 2025 so I don't know now, am I still a ZEP holder or have I ceased to be one?
I feel it's unfair because I've been here for more than 15 years as a ZEP holder and to just say 'you're moving to a different stream and starting anew', it's unfair
— Privilege Ncube, ZIF committee member
“I feel it's unfair because I've been here for more than 15 years as a ZEP holder and to just say 'you're moving to a different stream and starting anew', it's unfair.
Ncube said she suspects the announcement came after organisations such as ZIF sent emails seeking clarity on the various “contradictory” directives issued.
Edward Muchatuta, the national co-ordinator of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit Association expressed his frustration, saying the new gazette has created panic and confusion among ZEP holders.
Muchatuta said most of the ZEP holders were now using two-year permits, which were due to expire in 2025.
“It would have been better if they didn't bring this new gazette, and we would have known that we stick to the permit. It's confusing. They are saying it's a transition. It looks like there was no handover from the previous minister, because now we are starting the whole process right from the beginning,” he said.
“What we have been doing for the past three years has gone to waste. We have been applying for waivers and permits. As recently as two weeks ago, we asked what is going on with our waiver outcome, and instead of getting a response, we were hit with a new gazette which leaves us with many more questions,” he said.
Muchatuta said the government's indecisiveness was negatively affecting many legally documented Zimbabweans who are in South Africa.
“People are losing their jobs, because employers want work permits and nothing else. They don't recognise all these other things like the gazette,” he said.
The sad part about the entire thing is that the only people who are negatively affected are the documented people, while the undocumented ones are able to carry on with their lives without any hassles, he said.
“It's like the documented are being punished. Just because they know who you are and where you are, then you will be subjected to all these injustices that we have no idea when they would end.”
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