The <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Zimbabwean_Exemption_Permit_Visa">Zimbabwe Exemption Permit</a> Holders Association (ZEPHA) has made a fundraising campaign to support its legal action which seeks to protect the rights of children whose parents are ZEP holders.
ZEPHA is asking the public for financial contributions in order to fund its High Court application, which will be heard in Pretoria on January 24, 2023.
This week, ZEPH announced in a statement seen by <a href="https://www.newsday.co.zw/local-news/article/200006340/sa-based-zimbos-appeal-for-legal-fees">NewsDay</a> that it lacked the resources to pay for the legal action against the South African Home Affairs ministry. Read the statement:
<blockquote>
Zepha does not have the benefit of a budget anywhere near that of the South African government for litigation. According to the reports from the parliamentary committee, the Home Affairs minister budget is several billion rand. We hereby call upon members of the public who are prepared to assist Zepha with donations of any value to get hold of us urgently.
Several Zimbabwean children, eligible to write the 2023 Matric examinations in South Africa, have been denied registration because of their parents’ legal status in South Africa. This is a cruel, inhumane and unconstitutional denial of Zimbabwean children’s right to complete their education.
Zepha has been involved in ongoing litigation over several years against the South African government to protect rights of Zep holders. Our legal challenge against Immigration Directive 10 of 2021, which attacked the Zep bank accounts, set down for December 14, 2021, led to the withdrawal of that directive on December 13, 2021. Our legal challenge against the decision to end Zimbabwean exemptions shall be heard between April 11, 2023 and April 14, 2023.
</blockquote>
The SA Cabinet decided late last year not to renew ZEPs, stating that ZEPs holders must apply for a special visa system or risk being deported when the 12-month grace period expires in December 2022. Later, the deadline was moved up to June of 2023.
<a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Simba_Chitando">Simba Chitando</a>, an attorney for ZEP holders, stated that the major lawsuit involving the ZEP right to residency would not be heard on the urgent roll but rather on the regular roll.
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Organisation Representing ZEP Holders Appeals For Funding

The Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Holders Association (ZEPHA), a South African-based organisation that seeks to protect the rights of Zimbabweans in the neighbouring country, says Zimbabwean children are being denied their right to education.
ZEPHA is asking the Gauteng High Court to set aside what it considers an SA government decision to refuse to enroll children of ZEP holders.
It cited the ministers and directors-general of Basic Education and Home Affairs as respondents.
One of the applicants alleges that he was unable to register his daughter at Rand Park High in Johannesburg in what is supposed to be her matric year.
He claimed the school cited the uncertainty of his legal status in SA as the reason for its decision.
In a statement, ZEPHA said this is just one of several such instances of children of Zimbabweans being denied enrolment in South African schools. It said:
<blockquote>
This is a cruel, inhuman, and unconstitutional punishment of Zimbabwean children’s right to complete their education.
</blockquote>
The decision by SA Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to end the ZEP system by 30 June this year is the subject of three separate challenges.
The three groups are ZEPHA, the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Zimbabwe Immigration Federation.
All the groups are challenging Home Affairs’ decision to end the ZEP system, which was introduced more than a decade ago.
ZEPHA is arguing that ZEP holders have a legitimate expectation of being granted permanent residence in SA, as most are working, paying taxes, and raising their children in the neighbouring. | <a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/its-back-to-court-for-zimbabwean-children-denied-schooling-in-sa/">Moneyweb</a>

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