South Africa: Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Update

UPDATE JUNE 20, 2024: The Constitutional Court dismissed the appeal by the Minister of Home Affairs to determine whether to uphold the Pretoria High Court’s 2023 decision that the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) program had been unlawfully terminated. As a result of the dismissal of the case, current ZEPs will remain valid until the Minister of Home Affairs has completed the consultation process as required by the court.

UPDATE MARCH 19, 2024: The Supreme Court of Appeal has granted the Minister of Home Affairs' leave to appeal the ZEP ruling to the Constitutional Court. During the appeal process, the court-ordered validity of ZEPs of June 30, 2024 will remain in place. If the appeal is successful, the order which declared the Minister of Home Affairs’ decision as unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid will be suspended and the ZEP process will likely end before June 30, 2024. If the appeal is not successful, ZEPs will remain valid until June 30, 2024. We will update this news brief when the Constitutional Court rules on the appeal.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 9, 2023: The High Court dismissed a request for the issuance of an execution order. The reason for requesting the execution order was to prevent the Minister from deporting ZEP holders who did not apply for another relevant visa to work in South Africa by December 31, 2023. The court further confirmed that the court-ordered validity of ZEPs of June 30, 2024 is still in place.

September 22, 2023: The Minister of Home Affairs has applied for leave to appeal the judgment of the High Court which declared his decision to terminate the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) process and not to grant an extension of ZEPs beyond December 31, 2023, unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid. The Court issued a temporary relief that instructed the Department of Home Affairs to keep the ZEP valid for a further 12 months from the date of the judgment, which would lead to June 30, 2024. If leave is granted, the order which declared the Minister of Home Affairs’ decision as unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid will be suspended. As a result, the ZEP process will end on December 31, 2023, as originally decided by the Minister.