Good news for Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders!

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber joins John Maytham.

Listen below.

There is good news this week for the 178 000 Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders.

Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber has issued a new technical directive to speed up the processing of applications.

Many ZEP holders and their employers were concerned about what would happen when those permits expired in 2025, so they began applying for regular work permits.

ZEP holders are permitted to work and live in South Africa.

In 2022, Home Affairs introduced a waiver allowing ZEP holders to apply for mainstream work visas without certification from the Department of Labour and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

However, the waiver for the SAQA certificate was mistakenly omitted from the notifications sent to ZEP holders, defeating the purpose of the waiver.

The directive corrects this, says Schreiber.

"That will hopefully unlock a lot of people whose applications have not been processed."

- Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs

The Constitutional Court has previously ruled that proper consultation on the future of the ZEP permits was needed.

"That is exactly what we are going to do... the restablishment of the Immigration Advisory Board. That's one of the forums that I intend to use for us to get expert opinion..."

- Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs

"But also consultation with the public more broadly. We need to speak to people affected by this permit... and South Africans more broadly."

- Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs

"We need to understand how we transition those who hold the permit into the mainstream system and enable them to apply for visas."

- Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.