Fighting for Scraps: South Africa’s ZEP Policy and the Damage Already Done
By Sacha Knox:
(Image: Getty Images)
In recent months, at Johannesburg stations, hundreds of Zimbabweans have queued to board buses for what officials call “voluntary repatriation.” Families with luggage. Children who have known no other home. Voluntary is doing a lot of work in that sentence that the reality does not support.The Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) has been fought over in the courts since Cabinet announced its termination in November 2021. The Pretoria High Court ruled on 28 June 2023 that then-Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s decision was procedurally unfair, unlawful, and invalid. He sought leave to appeal at every level - the High Court, then the Supreme Court of Appeal, then the Constitutional Court - and was refused each time. On 18...
