BL Premium reports that according to Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, just 6,000, or 3%, of the estimated 178,000 Zimbabweans living in SA under the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) had by September applied for alternative visas.

But, in a written reply to a parliamentary question, Motsoaledi added that “more applications are streaming in on a daily basis”. Simba Chitando, a legal representative for the Zimbabweans covered by the exemption permit, said many weren’t applying because the visas and permits were too expensive and because many applications had been rejected. Motsoaledi gave notice at the end of last year that the ZEP introduced about 10 years ago would expire at the end of 2022. Then in September he extended the deadline for Zimbabweans to apply for other types of permits to end-June 2023. Motsoaledi emphasised that there would be no further extensions for Zimbabweans to regularise their status in SA under the Immigration Act. His decision to terminate the permit is being challenged in court by the Helen Suzman Foundation. In his written reply, the minister said 1,195 Zimbabweans had applied for a critical skills visa, 19 for business visas, 62 for general work visas, 1,006 for relative visas, 443 for study visas, and 19 for retired persons visas. Chitando, who is representing Zimbabweans in the court case challenging the termination of the ZEP, said there was a huge backlog in dealing with the applications, as was the case with all types of other visas.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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