Thousands of Zimbabwe special permit holders are breathing a sigh of relief after the department of home affairs on Monday withdrew its controversial directive, which could have seen them lose access to services such as banking and possibly be prevented from returning to SA after the holidays.
Facing pressure from lobby groups and legal action, the department withdrew a directive that suggested that permit holders who could not provide proof that they had applied for "mainstream" alternatives such as work or business permits by December 31 would have their employment contracts, banking services and student registrations suspended.
This was despite the government saying earlier that the special permit holders have a 12-month period from December 31 to replace their visas, which have enabled them to live, work and study in SA legally.
The government’s decision not to renew those permits still stands and is the next target of those representing permit holders, who argue the government should simply regularise their stay by granting them permanent residence.
The home affairs directive prompted an association representing the holders of the Zimbabwean special visas to launch a court application to set it aside. The matter, in which home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi and President Cyril Ramaphosa are listed among respondents, was due to be heard on Tuesday.
But the department of home affairs’ U-turn, which was published on its website on Monday, advises that the directive has been withdrawn.
It did not provide reasons, and the department’s spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Simba Chitando, an advocate on behalf of permit holders, said the court case will proceed on Tuesday as the judge has to be formally informed that the notice has been withdrawn.
Nicole Fritz, a public interest lawyer who leads Freedom Under Law, an organisation that seeks to promote democracy and the rule of law, said the U-turn is a most welcome development. "However, while the risk of some of the most immediate hardship seems now to have been removed with the withdrawal of the directive, significant and grave hardship awaits the [permit] holders unless cabinet rethinks its November decision [to discontinue the permits]."
She said in the same way that the directive was withdrawn because its drafting would have produced perverse consequences that could never have been intended, the "cabinet needs to reconsider its decision and the perverse consequences it generates for those who have scrupulously observed and abided by our permit laws".
The controversy followed an announcement in November, read out by minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele after a cabinet meeting, that it had decided to no longer issue extensions to the Zimbabwean special dispensation visas, which were introduced in 2009 to allow Zimbabweans working illegally in SA to regularise their status. Nearly 200,000 people were granted the visas, most of whom have built lives in SA.
Unlawful
The cabinet directive suggested that holders of the special permits, which would expire at the end of December, would be given 12 months to apply for other permits, so they would have until December 2022 to sort out their paperwork. This raised concerns that bottlenecks at home affairs would leave many unable to do this in time, putting them in danger of being deported or deprived of ways to legally work or study.
Chitando said the U-turn by the department of home affairs "is great news for [permit] holders, their families, and members of the SA community who rely upon them".
He said the directive had been "unacceptable to begin with". It was "so unlawful" that the department was not prepared to defend it in court.
The "cabinet must now do the right thing and withdraw their decision as well [not to renew the permits], and simply give permanent residence permits," Chitando said.
Groups representing the Zimbabwe special permit holders have previously argued that those affected know no other home and that the law allows for the issue of SA permanent residency to such individuals.
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