Fact Check: Has South Africa extended Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) to 2025? - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
December 6, 2023
Claim: South African Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi has granted exemptions to about 178,000 Zimbabweans to stay in the country for a further two years to 2025 under the special permits, according to multiple media reports.
ZEP was introduced in 2009 by then Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as a temporary measure to an influx of mostly economic refugees from neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Source: Various main stream media
Is this true or false?
Verdict: True
South Africa’s government announced the extension of Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), some of which were due to expire at the end of the month and June next year in terms of section 31 (2) (b) of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002. The Home Affairs Minister said the ZEP permits would expire on November 29, 2025.
Holders of exemption permits due to expire on 31 December 2023, or June 2024, and such extended period of validity will be entitled to apply for a new exemption permit.
The claim is true, as announced in a press conference by South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister. The Zimbabwe Exemption Permits will be extended by a further two years until November 2025. There are an estimated 180,000 ZEP holders in South Africa.
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