ArgentWeb

South African Interior Minister Leon Schreiber intervened at the last minute on Friday morning to extend the validity of the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP).

This comes as the ZEP was set to expire on Friday, causing panic among thousands of people trying to stay in the country legally.

In the official journal on November 29, Schreiber said the Zimbabwean exemption permit would remain valid until November 28, 2025 “so that I can fulfill the duty entrusted to me by the Gauteng High Court to consult the affected ZEP holders and all other stakeholders on the future of the current dispensation”.

He was referring to a court decisionpreviously reported by GroundUp.

Schreiber said the Immigration Advisory Council would be activated again to advise the ministry on ways to comply with the High Court order on the future of the ZEP.

He added that “no ZEP holder may be arrested, ordered to leave or detained with a view to removal or deportation within the meaning of section 34 of the Immigration Act for any reason whatsoever. linked to the fact that he does not have a valid exemption certificate”.

Holders of an exemption certificate will be allowed to enter and exit the country, “provided they meet all other entry and exit requirements, except because they do not have a valid visa listed on their passport. “.

Long queues

When news of the extension broke on Friday, many ZEP holders were still stuck in long queues outside VFS Global offices in Cape Town and Gqeberha in a desperate attempt to apply for a waiver to remain in South Africa. South when their ZEP expires. VFS is the service provider of the Ministry of the Interior.

On Thursday, shortly after 6 a.m., outside the Cape Town office, the queue was already snaking around the building.

Many people queuing told GroundUp that they had spent days at VFS offices collecting or interrogating their applications to stay in South Africa. People have complained about the functionality of the VFS online reservation system.

A sign outside the VFS office said it would be open Saturday for people to pick up their waivers.

At the Gqeberha VFS Global office in Walmer on Friday morning, queues remained long with around 80 people still queuing at 10am.

A mother of three, a ZEP holder, said she had come from Cradock and was told to return on Friday morning.

“I live far away and I have no friends here… I am in limbo because I need to make sure I stay in this country legally given the constant arrests by immigration officials,” he said. she declared.

A mother and son from Cleary Park who were turned away Thursday said they had been trying to make an appointment for a month, without success.

“We did our best to book appointments online. At first I thought maybe my son didn’t know the system. Then we went to an internet cafe for help and found it was the same,” she said.

Chris Mapingure, chairman of the Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network, said: “We are not happy with the way the Department of Home Affairs is treating people wanting to extend their permits through VFS. During the month, desperate people asked us for help because they were having difficulty making an appointment.

He said they had pleaded with the Home Office to extend the grace period to allow everyone to be assisted.

Questions sent to VFS Global were not answered at the time of publication.