By Own Correspondent

A crisis is brewing in neighboring South Africa (SA) following a recent decision by the cabinet to scrap exemption permits for Zimbabweans in a development that is likely to worsen the situation back home if these nationals are to be deported.

The move follows the decision by the South African government to do away with the special Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) announced recently by minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele during a post cabinet briefing.

The decision by the cabinet could see scores of Zimbabweans living and working in SA having no option but to return home should they not secure work permits and other relevant documents.

Millions of Zimbabweans are currently out of decent jobs amid calls by global institutions like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the country to expedite the formalisation strategy.   

The policy directive is expected to come into operation on December 31 2021.

The first Zimbabwean special dispensation started in 2009 and was called the Dispensation for Zimbabwe Permit.

It provided for the documentation of qualifying Zimbabweans for a five-year period. In 2014, the dispensation was extended by three years and called the Zimbabwean Special Permit. The current ZEP was initiated in 2017 and comes to an end on December 31, 2021.

The failure to resolve deep economic challenges in the past decades by the ruling Zanu-pf party has prompted locals to flood the neighboring nation, overcrowding and even outcompeting South Africans in the job markets.

However, several political leaders in SA have since blamed the ANC led administration for failing to advise the Harare administration decisively as chief among the causes leading to the influx of foreigners into their country.