In the week, the Pretoria High Court will hear three challenges from various civil society organizations against the scrapping of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP).
In 2021, Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi announced that the special permit, which was first introduced more than a decade ago, would be terminated.
The decision left hundreds of thousands of immigrants with no option but to arrange different permits or visas or leave South Africa.
Many of these men and women were in the country for years now and built lives and families in the country, and the move faced widespread backlash.
The three organizations – the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit Holders Association (ZEPHA), and the Zimbabwean Immigration Federation – all launched separate legal challenges to the termination of the special permit.
And all three will be heard together by the Pretoria High Court during the week, with the HSF expected to kick off the proceedings on Tuesday.
The HSF, together with the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants (CoRMSA), maintained that the decision to terminate the ZEP was made without consulting ZEP holders or the South African public at large.
They said this was in contravention of Section 33 of the Constitution, which deals with just administration action.
They also argued that the decision would ultimately turn the lives of these men, women, and their children upside down, which it said unjustifiably limited their constitutional rights to dignity and conflicted with the child’s best interests.
The Minister of Home Affairs is opposing their challenge, as is the All Truck Drivers Forum, and Allied South Africa.
-EWN
In other news – Former Idols SA judge, Unathi Nkayi sues Kaya FM for unfair dismissal
Radio and television presenter Unathi Nkayi is demanding a whopping R1.6-million from Kaya FM for unfair dismissal and loss of income after she lost lucrative endorsements as a result of the station‘s unlawful termination of her contract.
Nkayi’s demands are contained in the suit she filed at the Johannesburg High Court last week. Unathi signed a contract with the station on February 11 2020 to be its presenter. Learn More
