The Zimbabwean community in South Africa has raised concern over what it says is growing harassment and intimidation of Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders by some South African authorities.
In a recent statement, ZimCommunitySA condemned conduct captured in a video posted by eMalahleni FM News, which showed immigration officials appearing to dismiss the validity of the ZEP and allegedly taunting a migrant.
In the video, a senior officer appeared to reject the existence and extension of the ZEP, even after being told that the Department of Home Affairs, under Minister Leon Schreiber, had extended it through Directive 21.
ZimCommunitySA said the incident raises serious questions about how well officials tasked with enforcing South Africa’s immigration laws understand those laws.
“Officials cannot become participants in the vigilante narrative against migrants. An officer’s unfamiliarity with a directive does not invalidate that directive, nor does it give an official licence to ridicule or intimidate a person asserting their lawful status,” part of the statement reads.
The organisation called on the Department of Home Affairs to ensure that SAPS and immigration officials are properly briefed whenever directives affecting migrants are issued or amended.
It also called for investigations into the conduct shown in the video and into allegations of abuse and extortion.
“We do not oppose lawful immigration enforcement. We oppose arbitrary, uninformed and degrading enforcement,” said ZimCommunitySA.
“Being a foreign national does not make someone illegal. Being a migrant does not suspend one’s right to dignity.
The ZEP is valid in South Africa until 28 May 2027. The extension protects about 178,000 Zimbabwean nationals from arrest, detention or deportation, allowing them to continue living, working and studying in the country legally.
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