By ‘Majirata Latela
A cloud of uncertainty and anxiety is hanging over hundreds of thousands of Lesotho nationals working and studying in South Africa (SA) as the clock ticks towards expiry of the Lesotho Exemption Permits (LEP) issued by that country.
The fear is prompted by South Africa’s resolution not to renew Zimbabwean nationals’ permits when they expired in December 2021.
Nearly 200 000 Zimbabweans living in South Africa on a Zimbabwe Exemption Permit have been given a 12-month grace period to regularise their papers or risk detention and deportation.
The LEPs were initially introduced as Lesotho Special Permits in 2015 to enable eligible Basotho to lawfully reside, work, study and conduct business in South Africa. It was due to expire in December 2019.
The permits are to expire in 2023 but it remains unknown whether SA will renew them to enable a continued stay, work and study in the neighbouring country.
In 2020, SA approved a new Lesotho Exemption Permit following the expiry of three-year Lesotho Special Permit (LSP) which ended on December 31 2019. The new dispensation was only applicable to holders of the LSP. The total number of LSP permits issued was 90 314.
But to date, SA has not pronounced itself on whether the administration will renew the permits or not.
When asked for comment on the matter yesterday, the SA High Commission’s political counselor, Mark Reynhardt, could only say he believed the matter will be discussed at the Bi-national Commission whose dates have not yet been for the talks.
“We are still waiting for confirmation of the date for the Bi-national Commission sitting which will replace the Joint Bilateral Cooperation Commission (JBCC); so, at the moment unfortunately we cannot comment on that since there are still discussions taking place. The state of the talks remains unknown.
“At the moment, I am not even in office to confirm if the matter will be in the agenda in the bi- national commission or not,” Reynhardt said.
Quizzed on the matter on Tuesday, Lesotho’s home affairs, ‘Mantšebo Motsoakabaka said the project on LSP and LEP was entirely for SA and professed no knowledge on the state of affairs in that regard. She was in the dark about what SA will eventually decide about the permits.
“I cannot say at this point if the permits will be renewed or not. We have not made any strides to engage SA because we believe when the time for expiry of the permits approaches, SA will engage us. We, however, would appreciate if SA can renew the permits to allow Basotho to work and study in SA smoothly.” Motsoakabaka said.
A holder of an LEP permit, Mahloahloa ‘Molotsi, suggested that cessation of the issuance of the permit, will force her to pay numerous visits to the SA Home affairs to seek extension of her stay. That, according to her, might cause disruption to her teaching duties in that country.
She is aware that one can only legally work in SA when holding a permit.
“If I do not have the permit, it means I will have to quit my job since according to South African laws, a foreign national is not allowed to work there without the required document permit or LEP.
“The LEP has been very helpful to us because possessing it allows for a prolonged stay. The permits also save us time and money that we used to spend travelling between home and SA.
“We need those permits seriously because they also make it easier for us to get jobs. We therefore request the two governments to work on the renewal. We further plead with SA to remove the terms of the permit which do not allow us to qualify for permanent residency despite living in SA for 10 years. On the permit it is clearly stipulated that even after 10 years of staying in SA one does not qualify to be a permanent resident,” she decried.
“If the SA government decides to renew the permits, we would like to see that clause that says we do not qualify to be permanent residents expunged. We want to one day be allowed to become permanent residents in SA because this is where we have spent a sizeable portion of our time,” she said.
She said since being issued with the permits, there is no fear of the holders facing the unpalatable possibility of being arrested and deported to their countries of origin anytime.
“We further plead with SA to open the application again for our fellow Basotho who did not get the chance to apply in 2016,” she asked.
Former SA Home Affairs minister, Siyabonga Cwele, announced the extension of the LSP in 2019. He made the announcement at a joint media briefing with his then Lesotho counterpart, Tsukutlane Au, in Maseru.
The initial application process for the LSP began in March 2016 and was due to end in June 2016. There were three extensions culminating in the final extension to 31 March 2017 for all applications.
A South African home affairs report issued in October 2017 said that 194 941 LSP applications were received out of an estimated 400 000 Basotho believed to be in South Africa.
“Out of these, about 90 225 were approved, 3 582 rejected,” the report stated.
Although 90 225 applications were approved, the figure was said to be very small as it represents less than a quarter of the 400 000 Basotho who were estimated by the South African government to be living within its borders.
Even though most of those who applied succeeded in getting the LSP, more than 200 000 Basotho living in South Africa did apply for the permit.
Cabinet had previously approved the implementation of a Special Dispensation for Lesotho nationals on 4 November 2015. The objective of this dispensation was to document Lesotho nationals who were in South Africa illegally as a result of the socio-economic crisis in Lesotho. It allowed Lesotho nationals to sojourn in the Republic with relaxed conditions; provided them with work, study or business permits and suspended their deportation.
Given the expiry of the LSP, and the need to ensure all persons in South Africa are here on a lawful basis, with correct documentation, a new 4-year special dispensation for Lesotho nationals has been approved.
