News / National
Court application to suspend the arrest or deportation of Zimbabwe Exemption Permits holders
04 Sep 2023 at 16:20hrs | Views
The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) has brought a court application to suspend the arrest or deportation of Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) holders, pending an appeal by home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
The Pretoria high court ruled in June that Motsoaledi's decision to terminate the ZEP, to grant limited extension of the ZEP of only 12 months and to refuse further extensions beyond June 30 – as communicated in a public notice to Zimbabwean nationals on January 5 2022 – was unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.
The case was brought by the foundation as well as the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in SA on behalf of 178,000 ZEP holders.
Motsoaledi said the department would appeal the matter.
Yesterday, the foundation's executive director Nicole Fritz said the leave to appeal process suspended the operation of the underlying order in an ordinary course.
"This means that if the court decides this way, Zimbabwe Exemption Permits holders won't get any actual relief or help in the end," said Fritz.
She said there were organisations that were deliberately misrepresenting the foundation's application.
"These misrepresentations began circulating online less than a day after HSF had filed its papers with the parties. These deliberate misrepresentations are more than mischievous. They look to endanger the staff of HSF, all of whom are South African.
"These clear misrepresentations are happening right after trying to blame NGOs [non-governmental organisations] for last week's destructive fire in Johannesburg, which caused many deaths and injuries. But the blame is wrongly placed on NGOs instead of the real culprits," said Fritz.
She said that no one should have to remember NGOs' role in the country in securing rights and fighting against corruption and malfeasance.
"Coordinated attempts to discredit NGOs and erode the public's trust through lies and misrepresentation are an attack on democracy itself," said Fritz.
The Pretoria high court ruled in June that Motsoaledi's decision to terminate the ZEP, to grant limited extension of the ZEP of only 12 months and to refuse further extensions beyond June 30 – as communicated in a public notice to Zimbabwean nationals on January 5 2022 – was unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.
The case was brought by the foundation as well as the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in SA on behalf of 178,000 ZEP holders.
Motsoaledi said the department would appeal the matter.
Yesterday, the foundation's executive director Nicole Fritz said the leave to appeal process suspended the operation of the underlying order in an ordinary course.
She said there were organisations that were deliberately misrepresenting the foundation's application.
"These misrepresentations began circulating online less than a day after HSF had filed its papers with the parties. These deliberate misrepresentations are more than mischievous. They look to endanger the staff of HSF, all of whom are South African.
"These clear misrepresentations are happening right after trying to blame NGOs [non-governmental organisations] for last week's destructive fire in Johannesburg, which caused many deaths and injuries. But the blame is wrongly placed on NGOs instead of the real culprits," said Fritz.
She said that no one should have to remember NGOs' role in the country in securing rights and fighting against corruption and malfeasance.
"Coordinated attempts to discredit NGOs and erode the public's trust through lies and misrepresentation are an attack on democracy itself," said Fritz.
Source - sowetan
