Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi recently declared that holders of Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) and Lesotho Exemption Permits (LEP) are permitted to remain in South Africa until the end of 2025. This announcement comes in a laudable move, overturning the previous pronouncement of the ZEP programme’s termination on December 31, 2023, which would have significantly impacted over 178,000 Zimbabweans.
Motsoaledi urged affected Zimbabwean and Basotho nationals to capitalize on the available opportunities for new exemption permits through VFS Global. In a directive to those who had applied for waivers or visas, he clarified that there was no necessity for such actions. “VFS Global has been mandated to expedite the process for new exemption permits, and a dedicated team will be established to handle applications for these new exemptions,” he remarked.
Nevertheless, Motsoaledi emphasized that for individuals who neglected to apply for waivers, the onus was on them to revisit VFS and initiate the process anew. Expressing accountability, he iterated that ample opportunities had been provided, with numerous extensions having been granted. He urged all affected Lesotho and Zimbabwean nationals to seize this window of opportunity and apply for new exemption permits through VFS Global.
The Minister’s pronouncement on the extensions followed in the wake of legal action instigated by the non-profit organization, the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), which filed an urgent application to safeguard the rights of ZEP holders. Regrettably, the application was dismissed without effect.
Despite the successive extensions of the ZEP, which were initially instituted in 2009 and further prolonged in 2014 and 2017, Motsoaledi clarified that it did not integrate the legislation into the Immigration Act. This would have endowed the South African Home Affairs Minister with extensive powers to confer a specific category of foreigners with the right of permanent residence for a stipulated or unspecified period, contingent on the existence of special circumstances.
