SCA dashes Motsoaledi's hopes of appealing interim court interdict to stop deporting ZEP holders
Motsoaledi approached the SCA to challenge a Pretoria High Court judgment invalidating the minister's 2021 decision to terminate the ZEP, but he was dealt a blow when his application was dismissed with costs.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. Picture: X/GovernmentZA
JOHANNESBURG - Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi's hopes to appeal an interim court interdict to stop deporting Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders were dashed.
In 2023, the Pretoria High Court invalidated the minister's 2021 decision to terminate the ZEP, which came into effect in 2009.
Motsoaledi subsequently approached the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to challenge the High Court judgment, but he was dealt a blow when his application was dismissed with costs.
The ZEP allows its holders and their children temporary legal status to live, work, and study in South Africa.
The permit was introduced at the height of xenophobic attacks in the country over a decade ago.
In its ruling, the SCA said that it found no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal by Motsoaledi.
In recent months, Motsoaledi has been taking a hardened approach towards illegal immigration and the porous condition of the country's borders.
He sent out a stern warning last week to business owners and landlords harbouring undocumented migrants, as well as imploring municipalities to implement stricter by-laws against them.
This stance was corroborated by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who called on the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe serious maladministration relating to the issuing of permanent residence permits, business visas, study visas, and citizenship by naturalisation.