CLAIM: South Africa has reversed its decision to stop renewing special permits for Zimbabweans.
SOURCE: Various press reports
VERDICT: Misleading. South Africa has not changed its decision not to extend the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit. Only a circular to banks has been withdrawn.
A December 13 article by Bloomberg, titled “South Africa reverses plan to send 200,000 Zimbabweans home”, reported that: “South Africa jettisoned a plan that would have forced about 200,000 Zimbabweans to return home, to the satisfaction of critics who said it would have caused a humanitarian crisis.”
NewsDay also reported on December 14 that “holders of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) in South Africa will now have their permits extended after the South African government yesterday dumped its earlier plans to desist from renewing the permits that expire on December 31.”
The reports are inaccurate. Bloomberg withdrew its article.
The November 25 announcement by the South African government that it will no longer extend the ZEP remains in force.
South Africa’s Home Affairs department has only withdrawn a December 7 order – called Immigration Directive No. 10 – that would have seen South African banks closing the accounts of holders of the permits by December 31 this year.
South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has clarified that there had been no change to the decision not to extend the permits. Zimbabweans holding that permit – which expires on December 31, 2021 – have 12 months to apply for other permits, during which time they can still keep their bank accounts.
“What we have withdrawn was a circular which was issued by officials in the Department of Home Affairs after the Cabinet decision, a circular which purports to be explaining to the banks what they must do. But the initial decision about Zimbabweans’ exemption permits, nothing has changed, and nothing is going to change. It still stands,” Motsoaledi said on South Africa’s Radio 702.
Conclusion
Reports that South Africa has withdrawn its decision to end the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit are not true. Only an order that would compel banks to close the accounts of holders of the special permit has been withdrawn.
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