30/11/2021
Dear Valued Clients
NEWS ABOUT THE ZEP PERMIT GRACE PERIOD AND MIGRATION TO THE NORMAL VISAS.
Please have a look at this youtube video as it will give you a bit more insight on the matter.
Please click on the link or the picture.
SA's decision to do away with Special Zimbabwean Exemption Permit: Pieter Britz - YouTube
On Thursday, Cabinet announced that the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP), which ends 31
December, will not be extended.
However, Cabinet decided on a 12-month grace period during which time ZEP holders “should
apply for other permits appropriate to their particular status or situation”. Those who are not
successful will have to leave South Africa or face deportation, said Cabinet.
This ends months of rising anxiety for about 180,000 Zimbabweans in South Africa as the ZEP
expiry date loomed and there had been no indication of what government intended to do.
Permit holders were debating whether to return home for Christmas. Many said banks had been
refusing to grant them loans and cancelling their pre-approved bond applications, while
employers were not renewing contracts because of their uncertain status. Cabinet’s grace period
will not necessarily help in this regard, and many ZEP holders are unlikely to qualify for other
permits.
Leaving the announcement to the eleventh hour had also allowed for misinformation that the
South African government had extended the permits by five years to circulate on social media,
rumours which the Cabinet statement referred to as fake news.
Back in October 2019, Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi told GroundUp that the thee
special permits which were issued to legalise the status of nationals from Lesotho, Zimbabwe and
Angola already living in South Africa, would be renewed. At the time the minister said they can’t
stop renewing special permits if the problems that led to those special permits are not yet
resolved. But he also said that permits can’t automatically be renewed by the department; it
needed Cabinet. Source: Cabinet announces Zimbabwe Exemption Permits will not b...
(dailymaverick.co.za)
We at PM Immigration will be able to assist you to find the best possible way to
apply for one of the normal visas if you are holding a ZEP.
Please email or call us for a consultation date and time.
