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The South African Government has back tracked on its decision to end the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit on Monday.Zimbabwean Award winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was first to break the story.
The South African Department of Home Affairs gave no reason for withdrawing that directive and the South African government has withdrawn a circular sent to banks that prompted the banks to threaten to close the accounts of Zimbabweans who hold special permits known as Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEPs).
About 200 000 Zimbabweans hold special visas which had allowed them to stay in South Africa since 2009 and the country’s government had resolved to end the programme following their worst performance in local government elections.
The head of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme at Lawyers for Human Rights in Johannesburg,Sharon Ekambaram welcomed the reversal.
“It does call for a debate on how we manage movement in the region without infringing on peoples’ human rights and their dignity,” Ekambaram said.
Millions of Zimbabweans at based in South African with the majority living in the country without proper documentation.
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