Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has vowed to push ahead with the termination of the Zimbabwe exemption permits issued to asylum seekers, when they expire at the end of this month, despite “tremendous” pressure from the Zimbabwean government and lobby groups not to.
The exemption permits were granted to more than 250 000 Zimbabweans who were among the millions who poured out of Zimbabwe at the height of its political and economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, overwhelming the country’s refugee system.
