Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) 1,000-a-day seek new passports in SA

1,000-a-day seek new passports in SA
33,000 Zimbabweans apply to stay in SA
by Staff Reporter
29/10/2010 00:00:00

ZIMBABWE’S embassy in South Africa is dealing with 1,000 passport enquiries DAILY after that country’s government announced its special dispensation and moratorium on deportations would end on December 31 this year. The South African government said this week it had received up of 33,000 applications for study, business or work permits by Zimbabweans.

Thousands of Zimbabweans who had fraudulently acquired South African IDs have been granted a special amnesty which allows them to trade their fake documents for official permits.

Zimbabwe has deployed 41 officers from the Registrar General’s Office to South Africa to speed up the process of issuing passports to its nationals who want to regularise their stay.

On Monday this week, officials said they had issued 3,000 new passports and were battling a growing backlog which has topped 20,000. In the fast-track process, ordinary passports, which cost R750, take six weeks to process – quicker than the six months it takes in Zimbabwe.

Chris Mapanga, Zimbabwe’s consular general at the Zimbabwe Embassy said the processing of passports was being slowed down by applicants who had never applied for a passport.

“We can work quickly through those with expired passports, and those who lost their passports, but applicants who have never applied for a passport or have no birth certificate or ID are giving us problems,” Mapanga said.
The embassy has 40 regional offices in South Africa, he said, but Johannesburg was the busiest.

As well as issuing new passports, officials have also been issuing IDs which take just 10 minutes to process.

Mapanga said: "If one manages to obtain a new national identification card, they can apply for a passport and then proceed to the South African Home Affairs Department to seek registration.

"This is a critical exercise which requires senior officials from the RG's Office and the need to make on-the-spot decisions sometimes."

posted by MrK @ 5:17 AM