JOHANNESBURG - The South African and Zimbabwean governments are considering a possible extension of the Zimbabwean documentation process originally set for the end of this year.
South Africa initially set December 31 as the cut-off date for Zimbabweans working, studying and doing business to apply for permits, which are processed for free. But, as the deadline fast approaches, the situation on the ground indicates that neither government will be able to meet the deadline.
Civil rights organisations had previously said the deadline was too near and argued that the two countries would not be able to untangle the chaos that would follow the registration process, due to the unconfirmed number of Zimbabwean migrants living in South Africa.
Sources in the South African Home Affairs Department and the Zimbabwean Consulate told The Zimbabwean early this week that the two governments were planning to extend the deadline to possibly mid 2011.
The reasons are largely that the Zimbabwean Consulate has failed to process most of the passports that were applied for in South Africa since the system began in September and would not have been able to deliver them all by December 31.
Zimbabwean Registrar-General, Tobaiwa Mudede, has already confirmed that Zimbabwe would not meet the South African deadline in its processing of applications for passports, while the South African government has also failed to cope with the documentation process due to the ever-increasing number of Zimbabwean applicants.
A source within the South African government said there still promised to be long queues of applicants by December 31, even if the Zimbabwean government were to be efficient in processing the passports.
Every day we have been turning away more than 300 Zimbabweans who are seeking permits at our Johannesburg centres, due to the continuously high turn-out of applicants, said a Home Affairs source. Only a few of those who are able to sleep in the queues are served, which means we will not be able to beat the deadline.
The official also revealed that their depots, which used to deal with around 300 applications a day, were now getting through only half that number. The rest were told to leave their forms and return the next day to complete the fingerprinting process and fill in more forms.
The department officials have since told us to record the names of those applicants that are turned away, so that they can see if there is a need to extend the deadline. Indications are that it will be extended to June next year, added the source.
I think the failure by the Zimbabweans to process those passports has been a blessing in disguise for us. Imagine the chaos that would have followed had all those tens of thousands of applications they have received been processed.
When the permits were introduced, applicants were promised delivery within 12 working days. Text messages used to be sent as confirmation a few hours after the application forms had been received, but these now take up to two weeks. People are waiting up to four weeks after that confirmation text to find out if they have been successful or not.
Despite all the indications, South African Home Affairs Director General, Mkhuseli Apleni, maintained that his department was on course to meeting the deadline.
So far, we are not thinking about extending the deadline because all is going well with the documentation process, said Apleni.
However, should need be, we will go back to the cabinet as Home Affairs and make our presentations towards that need and take it from there. For now, people should continue visiting our offices to seek this service.
Post published in: News