South Africa’s decision to provide temporary residence permits to Zimbabwean migrants in 2010 was initially hailed as innovative and applauded by migrants as well as some scholars. However, the reasoning employed by government to introduce the Zimbabwean Dispensation Permit (ZDP), (a temporary protection approach) has since been likened to the concept of a humanitarian logic (Moyo I. J Immigr Refug Stud 18(1):60–74, 2020) which hides behind the draconian intentions of immigration legislation to contain mobility rather than provide protection. Since their introduction, the permits have been subject to several renewals and have been given a final date for expiration of 30 June 2023 with no possibility of further renewal. However, this supposedly final date has also been interrupted by legal challenges. While the dispensation at first glance appears to fall within the complementary pathway framework as envisaged by the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), the research begs the question of whether the dispensation was simply a pathway to get undocumented Zimbabweans out of an irregular status and therefore not meeting the core objectives of the GCR. The theme of precarity and/or hyper-precarity emerged when the situation of Zimbabweans was investigated through the lens of their legal status and their temporary protection in South Africa.