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South Africa extends validity of Zimbabwe Exemption Permits
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South Africa's Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber has extended a lifeline to Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders, extending the validity of the permits by another year.
ZEP holders were in a panic as the deadline for them to apply for new one-year exemption permits approached on Friday.
Schreiber, in a government gazette published on Friday, said he "decided to extend the validity of the ZEP until November 28 2025 for me to fulfil the duty placed on me by the Gauteng [north] high court to consult the affected ZEP holders and all other stakeholders on the future of the current dispensation.
"The reactivation of the immigration advisory board (IAB) is underway and its first task will be to consider, advise, and enable the steps required for compliance with the order of the high court on the future of the ZEP.
"To give the IAB time to properly do its work and a fair process to be followed, I direct that: existing ZEPs shall be deemed to remain valid for the next 12 months, [that] no holder of a ZEP may be arrested, ordered to depart or be detained for purposes of deportation or deported for any reason related to him or her not having any valid exemption certificate."
ZEP holders were in a panic as the deadline for them to apply for new one-year exemption permits approached on Friday.
Schreiber, in a government gazette published on Friday, said he "decided to extend the validity of the ZEP until November 28 2025 for me to fulfil the duty placed on me by the Gauteng [north] high court to consult the affected ZEP holders and all other stakeholders on the future of the current dispensation.
"The reactivation of the immigration advisory board (IAB) is underway and its first task will be to consider, advise, and enable the steps required for compliance with the order of the high court on the future of the ZEP.
"To give the IAB time to properly do its work and a fair process to be followed, I direct that: existing ZEPs shall be deemed to remain valid for the next 12 months, [that] no holder of a ZEP may be arrested, ordered to depart or be detained for purposes of deportation or deported for any reason related to him or her not having any valid exemption certificate."
Source - timeslive
