Minister of Home Affairs seeks leave to appeal in Zimbabwean Exemption Permit matter

18 September 2023

Today, the Gauteng High Court heard argument from the Minister of Home Affairs that he should be allowed to appeal its June 2023 judgment that the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) had been unlawfully terminated. Judgment in the matter has been reserved.

The HSF has made a separate application – not heard by the court today – that seeks to keep the ZEP in force until the Minister has exhausted the appeal process. That application has since been the subject of a malicious and dangerous misinformation campaign, led by shadowy actors on social media, that has sought to incite violence against HSF’s staff for allegedly preventing the Minister from making migration policy in general.

Nothing about HSF’s litigation in this matter – not the original review of the decision to terminate the ZEP nor the application to keep it in force pending a finalised appeal process – does anything of the sort. In each application, HSF has simply sought to protect the basic right of ZEP holders, as persons who have lived in this country perfectly lawfully for the past fourteen years, to fair and rational government decision-making and to ensure that they do not languish in legal uncertainty while the Minister pursues the processes of appeal.

While the focus of this matter may be on ZEP holders, make no mistake, government decision-making devoid of consultation and fair process and absent sound reason imperils the rights of us all.

Issued by Helen Suzman Foundation, 18 September 2023