Home Affairs hits back at High Court over ZEP ruling
The High Court ultimately found the minister’s decision was unreasonable.
Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi breaks down the NHI Bill. Picture: Thomas Holder/EWN
JOHANNESBURG - Home Affairs Director General Livhuwani Makhode said the High Court “overemphasised the rights of children” when it overturned Minister Aaron Motsoaledi’s decision to scrap the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) programme in 2023.
This is contained in papers the department now filed in the Constitutional Court in a bid to overturn the ruling.
In its ruling, the High Court in Pretoria found, among others, that the termination of the ZEP programme affected “several established principles underpinning the best interests of a child”, and that the minister had failed to consider this.
Makhode said this was an error.
The High Court ultimately found the minister’s decision was “unreasonable”, pointing to the requirement for “an assessment of the ‘nature of the competing interest involved and the impact of the decision on the lives and well-being of those affected’.”
In papers before the Constitutional Court, though, Makhode argues that “the rights of children do not trump all other fundamental rights."
And, further, that the High Court “incorrectly elevated the rights of children, above all other fundamental rights.
He said the High Court got it wrong and that its finding is simply not correct.