Govt extends Zimbabwe exemption permits
The Zimbabwe exemption permits have been extended for another six months.
The permits will now only expire on 31 December.
This means Zimbabweans in South Africa, with these permits, will be allowed to stay in the country until the end of the year.
The government originally dug in its heels that these permits would expire at the end of June.
But Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi issued the directive on Wednesday, saying there have been significant developments since September last year - amongst others, a significant increase in the number of visa and waiver applications.
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Motsolaedi says VFS Global is now receiving up to one-and-a-half thousand visa and waiver applications every day from affected Zimbabwean nationals who are applying to extend their stay in the country beyond next month.
That has now prompted the department’s director-general to deploy more officials to assist in the processing of these applications.
These factors led Motsoaledi to issue the Immigration Directive yesterday, extending the validity of the ZEPs until the end of the year.
The government's decision to discontinue these permits has received widespread criticism.
The extension comes as judgment is still to be delivered in the case brought by the Helen Suzman Foundation and heard by a full bench in April.
