Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie has criticised Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, for extending the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) for a further six months. McKenzie accused the Minister of selling out the fight against illegal immigration and has called for Zimbabwean nationals to return home. McKenzie said:
Minister Aaron Motsoaledi sold out the fight against illegal immigration.
The one moment he goes to court, the next moment he extends the validity of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits by another six months, with the period now ending on the 31st of December. Let them go home.
Thousands of Zimbabweans were set to be deported at the end of this month when the ZEP was scheduled to expire. However, the Minister’s decision was based on significant developments, including the approval of thousands of waiver applications for Zimbabwean nationals and a significant increase in the number of visa and waiver applications received by VFS Global on a daily basis. In response, the Minister has deployed more officials to assist in the processing of these applications.
The Minister’s Immigration Directive no: 2 of 2023, which extends the validity of Zimbabwean exemption permits for a further six months, was published in the Extraordinary Government Gazette on Thursday, 8 June 2023. The Minister has called on all interested parties to consider the Directive in their decision-making processes and will be requesting the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation to issue a note verbale to bring the Directive to the attention of the Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe.