South Africa will extend special permits granted to immigrants from Zimbabwe and Lesotho by two years after the Supreme Court of Appeal barred the authorities from rescinding them.

The government decided not to renew expired permits that were issued to 54,653 Lesotho nationals and 178,000 Zimbabweans as part of an effort to stem an influx of economic migrants. The Helen Suzman Foundation, a civil rights group, successfully challenged the move, arguing that economic conditions that prompted people to relocate hadn’t improved and their children who were born in South Africa would be unfairly prejudiced.