"Government is free to change the policy"
Advocate Ismail Jamie, counsel for the Minister of Home Affairs, told a full bench of the Pretoria High Court that there was no decision to terminate the ZEP system, as argued by the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa in a case that seeks to set aside the minister's decision to terminate the ZEP system on 30 June 2023.
Blanket visa exemptions for Zimbabweans illegally in SA were introduced in 2009 under the Dispensation of Zimbabweans Project . That gave legal status to about 250,000 Zimbabweans who had fled political and economic instability at home. It allowed them to live, work, study and open businesses in SA. This scheme was extended and renamed the Zimbabwean Special Permit in 2014 and the ZEP in 2017.
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Motsoaledi's decision on Zimbabwean Exemption Permit does not take rights away, court hears | News24Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's decision not to create a further exemption programme for around 178 000 Zimbabwean nationals living in South Africa does not take away their rights - it confers them. | AlexMitchley AlexMitchley What guarantee is there that this people will indeed leave south Africa AlexMitchley Why would u make people who have been legal for years and make them illegal You think they will leave I really don’t understand you mr Homeaffair AlexMitchley ANC has allowed foreigners to take over the country long ago, shop they start launching poison in their spaza products, for t is goin to be the end of south Africans.
Source: News24 - 🏆 4. / 80 Read more »
South African Govt In Court Over Scrapping of Zimbabwe PermitsSeveral groups, including the Helen Suzman Foundation, are mounting a legal challenge over the South African government's decision to terminate the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) system without consultation, Ciaran Ryan of GroundUp reports. The Foundation argued in the Pretoria High Court that the decision should be sent back to Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi for proper consultation. The lapsing of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) system was a political decision, and does not take away the rights of ZEP holders, the South African government argued in response. Advocate Ismail Jamie, counsel for home affairs minister, told a full bench of the Pretoria High Court that there was no decision to terminate the ZEP system. Rights that were temporarily conferred in the first place had been allowed to lapse through the passage of time, he said. No rights had been taken away. Blanket visa exemptions for Zimbabweans illegally in SA were introduced in 2009 under the Dispensation of Zimbabweans Project (DZP). That gave legal status to about 250,000 Zimbabweans who had fled political and economic instability at home. It allowed them to live, work, study and open businesses in SA. This scheme was extended and renamed the Zimbabwean Special Permit (ZSP) in 2014 and the ZEP in 2017. Motsoaledi suspended the ZEP system in November 2021, extended it until December 2022, and then extended it again to June 30, 2023. This was to give ZEP holders more time to apply for alternative permits, failing which they are at risk of deportation or voluntary repatriation to Zimbabwe. The outcome of this case will have a huge impact on South Africa-Zimbabwe relations should the 178,000 permit holders be forced to leave South Africa. This is sad 😢
Source: allafrica - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »
South Africa: Thabo Bester Prison Break - Two Men in Court, Charged With MurderThabo Bester Prison Break - Two Men in Court, Charged With... GroundUp_News: SouthAfrica
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South Africa: Court, Media Delve into Actions of Alleged Accomplices in Thabo Bester Prison EscapeSeveral individuals who allegedly assisted convicted Facebook rapist and murderer Thabo Bester to escape from the Mangaung maximum-security prison will face legal scrutiny. According to News24, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) will launch an investigation into Dr. Nandipha Magudumana, Bester's alleged lover. The council aims to determine whether she behaved unprofessionally. An HPCSA spokesperson said in a statement: "Doctors sign a code of conduct and code of practice. We will look a
Source: allafrica - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »
South Africa: Putin May Join South Africa's BRICS Summit VirtuallyThe South African government has elected to consider allowing Vladimir Putin's remote attendance to the 2023 BRICS summit ion an effort to navigate the bureaucratic headache that the Russian leader's presence risks due to the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his capture, News24 reports.
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FAILING THE PEOPLE, PART ONE: Life along a Free State’s ‘road of death’ – where a flood of sewage water leaves locals sick and hopelessThe South African Human Rights Commission is mulling urgent court action to compel the Free State government to immediately relocate Nyakallong residents whose homes are awash in sewage water. Just find a ytpipo racism there and HRCSA will be there in a flash.
Source: dailymaverick - 🏆 3. / 84 Read more »