SA MINISTER’S BID TO APPEAL ZIM PERMITS RULING DISMISSED IN COURT

JOHANNESBURG - The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed with costs an application by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi to appeal a Gauteng High Court in Pretoria judgement declaring the termination of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) programme to be unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid. This is according to GroundUp.

In a ruling handed down earlier this month, the court said the application for special leave to appeal was dismissed on the grounds that there was no reasonable prospect of success. There was also no other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard.

The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), the primary litigant in the matter, said this meant the High Court ruling remained valid, unless the matter is referred to the Constitutional Court. "The ZEP permits are therefore valid and allow holders to continue living in South Africa on the same terms and conditions prior to its unlawful termination," the

HSF said.

In June last year, three judges in the High Court directed the minister to reconsider the termination of the ZEP permit programme, "following a fair process" that complies with the relevant laws. Pending the outcome of that process, the judges ruled, the permits would remain valid for another 12 months (until the end of June 2024), and ZEP-holders had protection from arrest and deportation.

The case was brought by the HSF and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in

South Africa after the minister announced the end of the programme in 2021. Subsequently, he granted further extensions but remained adamant that the 178, 000 permit holders must either apply for other visas, if they qualified for them, or return "home." In their ruling, Judges Colleen Collis, Gcina Malindi and Mandlenkosi Motha (writing as the court) said the minister had made no attempt to solicit representations from those affected before he took the decision. –