Zimbabwean Exemption Permit Litigation

The Helen Suzman Foundation needs to expose a scandalous falsehood being put out by a shadowy organisation calling itself Put South Africa First.

These are the facts:

Two months ago the HSF obtained an order from the Gauteng High Court setting aside the Minister of Home Affairs' decision to end the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit system (ZEP), which allows Zimbabwean permit-holders to reside in South Africa. It goes without saying that the basis of the order was that the Minister’s decision was unlawful. A condition of the order was to extend the ZEP for twelve months.

The Minister is now applying for leave to appeal and, if leave is granted, that will automatically suspend the order. In order to preserve the protection the Court granted to the permit-holders, HSF asked the Minister to agree that the extended expiry date of the ZEP will not run out during the appeal process.

The Minister refused, and HSF has accordingly now applied to the Court for such an order in order to safeguard the lawful right of ZEP holders to remain in the country in the meantime.

The suggestion that the HSF has brought an application to prevent the Minister from deporting illegal immigrants is not only malicious but dangerous, coming as it does hard on the heels of incendiary attempts to heap the blame for last week’s devastating fire in Johannesburg’s city centre not on those truly responsible, but absurdly on NGOs.

No one should have to be reminded of the role that NGOs have played in this country in protecting rights and fighting corruption and criminality. Coordinated attempts to discredit NGOs and erode the public’s trust through lies and misrepresentation are an attack on democracy itself.

Whatever else might be said of Put South Africa First, they do not put South Africa first.