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Zimbabwe Special Dispensation Permit: A Glimpse of The Future

Source: Sa Migration, 09/10/2016

This may be a case of the chickens finally coming home to roost. The
Minister`s comments this week may have not been what the community of
Zimbabweans living in South Africa of the Special Dispensation permits
had hoped to hear. For the first time since the announcement of the
renewal of the Dispensation permits, the Minister has shed some light
on the question of what is the fate of all those 250 000 odd
Zimbabweans issued with the 3-year permit. The Minister made it clear
that he expected all those issued with these permits to apply for the
appropriate visas before December 2017 and although he refused to
comment on whether the Department would deport those who had not
complied by then, it is hard to see any other move being taken. So
what next is the question.

I for one believe in planning for the worst but expecting the best. In
this case moving from the ZSP before the rush next year would be a
prudent move. The biggest stumbling block with this is the
restrictive condition attached to the permit that requires the holders
to apply for a change of conditions from Harare. Ordinarily, one
would not expect this to be an issue as a change from the ZSP permit
to another permit is a change of status and not a change of
conditions and thus permissible in the republic. However, The
Department and VFS have interpreted this provision to mean barring a
change of status completely. Thus condemning everyone to apply for
the change of status from Zimbabwe. This would not be an issue if
submitting in Harare did not come with problem that the SA embassy
will retain the passport until the visa application is finalised. An
action that is bewildering and a major barrier to people complying
with erroneous interpretation mentioned above.

The choices are certainly limited but what is now certain is that the
ZSP will not be renewed and perhaps efforts should be aimed at either
applying for a visa in Zimbabwe or making a case to the Minister to
allow the submission of applications in South Africa.

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