Confusion as deadline looms

ZEP: 'IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET FRIDAY CUT-OFF'

- Ciaran Ryan

Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP) holders say it will be impossible for them to meet the Friday deadline to apply for a further one-year exemption because of backlogs at the department of home affairs (DHA).

ZEP holders have until tomorrow to apply for a one-year exemption that would allow them to stay and work in SA until November next year. After this date, those without the required visa or waiver are theoretically at risk of deportation.

But the Friday deadline cannot be met, says the ZEP Holders Association (Zepha), because there is a backlog of several months for general worker visa and waiver applications.

Zepha expects Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber to extend the deadline, as was done by his predecessor Aaron Motsoaledi last year.

‘Self-created crisis’ for home affairs