Holders could not change the conditions of the permit in South Africa. Similar exemptions were previously granted to people from Lesotho and Angolan refugees.
Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have flocked to South Africa to escape economic hardship since the 1990s. The South African government has, since 2010, granted the migrants a special permit to live and work in the country. It’s latest iteration is the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit. Now the government says the permit has run its course
Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have flocked to South Africa to escape economic hardship since the 1990s. The South African government has, since 2010, granted the migrants a special permit to live and work in the country. It’s latest iteration is the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit. Now the government says the permit has run its course and wants to scrap it. This has sparked fears that the move will jeopardise the lives of the permit holders and their dependants. The Conversation Africa’s Thabo Leshilo spoke to Sikanyiso Masuku, an immigration and migration expert, about the issue. What is the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit? The South African government recognised that it had a huge Zimbabwean migrant population so, in 2010, it granted an amnesty meant to legalise the status of those who had either illegitimately claimed asylum or fraudulently acquired other South African legal documents in order to stay in the country.