On the 3rd of December 2024 the Minister of Home Affairs extended the validity of the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) until 28 November 2025 and on the 18th of December 2024 The Minister of Home Affairs extended the validity of the Lesotho Exemption Permits (LEP) until 28 November 2025. These decisions are in line with the Department of Home Affairs requiring consultations with the Immigration Advisory Board to ensure compliance with the High Court’s order.
Although the Minister has extended these permits until November 29, 2025, Zimbabwean and Lesotho nationals still have to apply for the new permit at the Visa Facilitation Service (VFS). Zimbabwean and Lesotho nationals who have already applied for waivers and other visas in terms of the South African immigration law are exempted from applying for new exemption permits pending the outcome of their applications.
What this means for employers is that should ZEP or LEP holders not have applied for and obtained an extension of their respective permit, they will not be legally authorised to work in South Africa after 28 November 2025.
Digital-First Approach
In August 2024, the ministry also announced that ZEP applicants will no longer be required to visit a VFS Global branch to collect physical, paper-based copies of the waiver letters. Instead, ZEP holders will receive digital waiver letters in PDF format through e-mail. The digital letters can be used to submit a mainstream visa application going forward. The department indicated that applicants who still prefer to collect hardcopies of ZEP waiver letters at branches will be able to do so.
The digital-first approach is a meaningful step as part of their larger quest to clamp down on corruption and to enhance efficiency of services by transforming home affairs into a digital-first department Minister Schreiber shared. It also significantly accelerated their work to clear the permitting backlog allowing them to effectively process 60 582 outstanding ZEP waiver applications, many of which date back to 2022.
According to the Department of Home Affairs the digital-first approach will be extended to other applicants in the visa and permit regime over time.
