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Special Permit Seekers in South Africa Panic as ZSP Scheme Ends

Source: Voice of Zimbabwe, 29/09/2015

Hundreds of Zimbabweans who applied for special permits in South
Africa are now living in fear as they are still waiting for their
permits, a day before the programme ends Wednesday.

Thousands of people whose applications were rejected fear that they
may soon be deported by state security agents.

Zimbabwe Exiles Forum`s Diana Zimbudzana says her organisation wrote
to the Home Affairs Ministry in May seeking a clarification of the
status of rejected permit seekers and others that have not yet
obtained a response from the immigration authorities.

"We wrote to the Home Affairs Ministry asking about the appeals
process and if it were possible to appeal and also what would happen
to those Zimbabweans who fail to collect their permits when the
programme shuts down tomorrow, but have not had a response yet," said
Zimbudzana.

SHe urged those that have not yet collected their permits to go the
the VFS offices in their neighborhoods to find out what action to take
next.

Last month South African Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba, told
journalists that his office received over 200,000 ZSP permit
applications for adjudication.

Out of this number 185,075 applications were approved and the majority
of them dispatched and collected. Over 12,000 applications were
rejected.

Minister Gigaba warned that all permits that will not be collected
after this date will be declared invalid.

Gigaba also emphasized that after the expiry of all ZSP permits on 31
December 2017, the permit holders will be expected to return to
Zimbabwe as these will not be renewed.

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