ZEP DISPUTE UPDATE – STAY PUT COMRADES

Bernadette Wicks | 28 June 2023 16:28

JOHANNESBURG – The Pretoria High Court has declared Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s decision to discontinue the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) unconstitutional and invalid.

In 2021, Motsoaledi announced that the special permit – which was first introduced more than a decade ago – would be terminated.

This prompted court challenges from various civil society organisations including the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa.

On Wednesday, the court ruled in their favour finding, among others, that proper public consultation didn’t take place before the decision was made.

The court also granted the Zimbabwe Immigration Federation – another organisation that has challenged the move – an interim interdict preventing ZEP holders from being arrested or deported for now.