Johnathan Paoli
THE Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has announced on Wednesday that he will “vigorously oppose” the court application made by the Helen Suzman Foundation, which aims to stop the mass deporting of illegal Zimbabwean nationals.
This follows on the NGO launching a court application against the home affairs ministry in order to protect Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) holders pending the conclusion of the government appeal process.
The ZEP is a special permit that allows Zimbabweans who were previously granted a Dispensation of Zimbabweans Project (DZP) permit to work, study or conduct business in South Africa.
In June this year, the Pretoria High Court declared Minister Motsoaledi’s decision to terminate the ZEP unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid.
The foundation’s executive director Nicole Fritz said the foundation’s application was to safeguard the integrity of the judgment and ensure a fair and reasonable process.
Fritz remained staunch in her defence of the organisation’s recent actions, claiming a long history of NGOs, as well as attempts to undermine the role NGOs play within the country.
“No one should have to be reminded of the role that NGOs have played in this country in securing rights and fighting against corruption and malfeasance. Coordinated attempts to discredit NGOs and erode the public’s trust through lies and misrepresentation are an attack on democracy itself,” she said.
Fritz said that the misrepresentations followed on from the tragic events last week in which a building, alleged to be ‘hijacked’ by illegal foreign nationals, burned down, leaving 77 people deceased.
Subsequently, a blame game has arisen, in which the government and NGOs involved have declared the other as mainly responsible for the unfortunate events.
Illegal occupation as well as recent violence emanating from illegal mining activities referred to as “Zama zamas”, has aggravated the situation with rising tensions surrounding the role and efficient processing of foreign nationals coming into the country.
The HSF argues that the ZEP holders have a right to remain in South Africa pending the outcome of an appeal by the Minister of Home Affairs against a previous court order that declared his decision to terminate the ZEP unlawful and set it aside.
The EFF has been vocal in its criticism of the HSF accusing the organisation of being an agent of “white monopoly capital” that seeks to undermine the sovereignty and dignity of African people and has also called for the HSF to be pre-registered and its assets seized by the state.
The EFF has not issued an official statement on the HSF’s latest application, but its leader, Julius Malema, has been critical of the government’s plan to deport undocumented Zimbabweans as xenophobic and has called for a permanent residency status for all Zimbabweans living in South Africa.
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