Hi everyone, I am sharing this to clear up any misunderstanding in this regard 

The ZEP waiver for general work visa applications issued /signed by current Minister on 6 August 2024 is not a blanket waiver. 

ZEP applicants still need to individually apply for DOL and if applicable SAQA to be waived AND receive the said waiver outcome before they can submit a general work visa. 

This is an excerpt from a response on the topic received from DHA (Senior Official Rachelle Reyneke). 

„The waiver referred to is not and was never intended to be regarded as a blanket waiver. In the case of a blanket waiver, it is clearly indicated as such in the subject line.

 The purpose of the circular, as can be seen from the contents of the attachment, was to correct the thousands of waivers already signed by the previous Minister, in which only one of the prescribed requirements was for a waiver, resulting in potential mass rejection of general work visa applications by ZEP holders. Another reason for the directive was for Minister to show leniency towards the 178 000, ZEP holders who have been allowed to reside and work in South Africa since prior to 2010. It is also a mechanism to attempt to address the court’s sympathetic stance towards the plight of ZEP holders and to at least mitigate the reasons advanced by the Helen Suzmann Foundations’ why ZEP holders should be allowed to continue to live and work in South Africa.

 As already indicated, the directive is not a blanket waiver and ZEP holders who are interested in applying for a general work visa are required to individually apply for a waiver. Should a general work visa application be submitted without a waiver letter, such application will be rejected by the Departmental Advisory Committee. There has not been many such rejections so far, but there has been some.“