Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) holders have chosen not to request to be repatriated home as they are waiting for the outcome of a legal challenge against the termination of the ZEP in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
Nearly 180 000 holders of Zimbabwean Exemption Permits face deportation when their permits expire on June 30, 2023.
Despite the Zimbabwean Embassy announcing that they will assist citizens who decide to return home, it has not received any formal requests from ZEP holders expressing a desire to return home. David Hamadziripi, Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa said:
Zimbabweans are known to be a fearless, resolute and unrelenting people in spite of the many hurdles that our country has been subjected to.
Most of them want the facilitation to return, either at the end of May or in the course of June, so presently there is no facilitation because there has been no such request.
In November 2021, when the government of South Africa took the decision to no longer extend the ZEP, it was again a sovereign decision, that is one of those decisions another government cannot question
As the Zimbabwean community in South Africa marked the 43rd anniversary of Zimbabwe’s independence, nearly 180,000 citizens are anxiously waiting for the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria’s ruling on the legal challenge against the termination of the ZEP.
Although some Zimbabweans may be holding onto hope, the Zimbabwean government has accepted South Africa’s decision to terminate the ZEP. The judgment on the legal challenge against the termination of the ZEP has yet to be announced.
The ZEP is a temporary document that permits holders and their dependents to reside, work, and study legally in South Africa. When the permit expires on June 30, 2023, holders have the choice of applying for an alternative visa or returning to Zimbabwe.