Last minute reprieve for Zimbabwe Exemption Permit holders

People waiting in long lines outside the VFS Global office in Cape Town on Thursday. On Friday morning, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber extended the validity of the original Zimbabwe Exemption Permit to November 2025. Photo: Matthew Hirsch / GroundUp

• Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber extended the validity of the original Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) to 28 November 2025.
  
• The validity of the original ZEP was meant to end on Friday, 29 November 2024.
  
• This caused panic among thousands of people trying to remain legally in the country who, frustrated by long queues and challenges with the appointment booking system, have been struggling to meet the deadline.
  
• Schreiber stated that during this extension period holders of ZEPs may not be arrested or deported.

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has stepped in at the eleventh hour on Friday morning to extend the validity of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP).

This comes as the ZEP was meant to expire on Friday, causing panic among thousands of people trying to remain legally in the country.

In the government gazette on 29 November, Schreiber said that the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit would remain valid until 28 November 2025 “in order for me to fulfill 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”.

He was referring to a court ruling, previously reported by GroundUp.

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Schreiber stated that the Immigration Advisory Board would once again be activated to advise the department on ways to comply with the High Court order on the future of the ZEP.

He further stated that “no holder of a ZEP may be arrested, ordered to depart or be detained for deportation or deported in terms of section 34 of the Immigration Act for any reason related to him or her not having any valid exemption certificate”.

Holders of an exemption certificate will be allowed to travel in and out of the country, “provided that he or she complies with all other requirements for entry into and departure, save for the reason of not having a valid visa endorsed in his or her passport”.

Long queues

As news of the extension broke on Friday, many ZEP holders were still stuck in long queues outside VFS Global offices in Cape Town and Gqeberha in a desperate bid to apply for waivers to remain in South Africa when their ZEPs expire. VFS is the service provider for the Department of Home Affairs.

Outside the office in Cape Town on Thursday, just after 6am the queue was already snaking around the building.

Many people in line told GroundUp they had spent days at VFS offices to collect or query their applications to remain in South Africa. People complained about the functionality of the VFS online booking system.

A sign outside the VFS office said it would be open on Saturday for people to collect their waivers.

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At the Gqeberha VFS Global office in Walmer on Friday morning lines remained long with about 80 people still queueing at 10am.

A mother of three, who is a ZEP holder, said she had travelled from Cradock and was told to return on Friday morning.

“I live far away and have no friends here ... I am in limbo because I have to ensure I stay legally in this country given the constant arrests by immigration officials,” she said.

A mother and a son from Cleary Park, turned away on Thursday, said they had been trying to book an appointment for the past month without success.

“We did our best to make online appointments. At first, I thought maybe my son did not know the system. Then we went to seek assistance from an internet cafe only to see that it was the same,” she said.

Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network Chris Mapingure said, “We’re not happy with the way Home Affairs has been treating people wanting to extend their permits through VFS. During the month, desperate people approached us for assistance because they had difficulty booking appointments.”

He said they had pleaded with the Home Affairs to extend the grace period to allow for everyone to be assisted.

Questions sent to VFS Global were not answered at the time of publication.

This article was originally published on GroundUp.

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