GroundUp reports that the decision by the Minister of Home Affairs to terminate the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) programme has been declared unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.

Three judges, sitting as a full bench in the Pretoria High Court, have directed the minister to reconsider the issue “following a fair process” that complied with the relevant laws. Pending the outcome of that process, the permits will remain valid for another 12 months (until the end of June 2024), and ZEP holders will have protection from arrest and deportation. The case was brought by the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in SA after the minister announced the end of the programme in 2021. Subsequently he granted further extensions but remained adamant that the 178,000 permit holders must either apply for other visas, if they qualified for them, or return “home”. In a ruling on Wednesday, the judges noted that the minister had made no attempt to solicit representations from those affected before he took the decision. The first call for representations had been done “after the fact” and was not a “genuine consultation”. The invitation was “meaningless”, the judge wrote. They said the minister’s failure to consult, rendered the decision to terminate the programme procedurally unfair and irrational. It was noted that no attempt was made to assess the impact on ZEP holders and their children and the minister had also not placed any facts before the court showing that he had consulted on conditions in Zimbabwe.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tania Broughton at GroundUp
• See too, Zimbabwe Exemption Permit termination ruled ‘unlawful’, at BusinessLive
• And also, Motsoaledi studying High Court ruling on ending ZEP, at EWN

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