Children with Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs) won a reprieve late last week after the SA government backed down in a case it claimed many schools prevented from enrolling because of the uncertain legal status of their parents.
The ZEP system expires in June, meaning that permit holders must apply for a ‘regular’ SA visa in order to live and work in SA. The ZEP system was introduced more than a decade ago to manage the legal status of illegal Zimbabweans in SA due to political and economic difficulties at home.
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The ZEP Holders Association (Zepha) filed an urgent application in the Pretoria High Court last week, claiming that the children of ZEP holders, who are adults and attending school in SA, were denied registration in some schools in SA.
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Named as respondents in the case are the ministers and the department of basic education and housing affairs.
Also named as a respondent is Rand Park Secondary School in Johannesburg, one of the schools that claims it refuses to enroll children with ZEP.
“We are obviously happy that the government has wisely decided not to fight this application in court. Our guidance is to proceed with the court order that will help all ZEP children affected, and not just a few,” said Advocate Simba Chitando, who represented Zepha in the case this.
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“Unfortunately there is widespread xenophobia in South Africa, even in the administrative bodies of academic institutions, coupled with confusion about the legality of enrolling students without a study permit, through no fault of the children affected, which is a problem. It can only be resolved in the public interest by a binding court order.
The challenge of ending the ZEP system
The termination of the ZEP system is being challenged in a separate case by Zepha, which argues that permit holders, most of them taxpayers in SA, have a legal right to permanent residence in this country.
Two other human rights groups – the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Zimbabwe Immigration Federation – have also challenged Home Affairs’ decision to end the ZEP system, arguing that it will result in hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans being deported or forced to leave voluntarily. He said this would create a human rights disaster in the region, as many would have no prospect of supporting themselves or finding work in Zimbabwe.
ZEP’s case against the SA government will be heard in April this year.
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Chitando said Zimbabweans in SA are facing increasing persecution, especially now as the June 2023 ZEP expiry deadline approaches.
As Moneyweb previously reported, Zepha is taking the Department of Home Affairs to court over a directive that threatens to freeze bank accounts of ZEP holders in SA. The directive was withdrawn in December 2021.
This article originally appeared on Moneyweb and is republished with permission.
Read the original article here.