Overview

• Home Affairs Minister Leon Amos Schreiber extended the ZEP to 28 May 2027 through Minister’s Immigration Directive No. 21 of 2025.
• The directive deems current permits valid for 18 months beyond the 28 November 2025 expiry, preserving work rights and protection from deportation.
• An Immigration Advisory Board appointed in April 2025 continues deliberations on a permanent policy but has not produced a solution.
• A prior High Court ruling that terminating the ZEP was unlawful led to an earlier extension setting the 28 November 2025 deadline.
• A 2022 census counted about one million Zimbabweans in South Africa, with higher unofficial estimates, as groups like Operation Dudula intensify pressure on migration policy.