JOHANNESBURG Zimbabweans here are getting more and more restless as the Zimbabwean government continues to hold on to their passports, some of which were applied for close to two months ago.Zimbabweans working, studying or doing business in the neighbouring country have until December 31 to apply for free permits, but for them to be able to be eligible, they need to produce valid Zimbabwean passports.
Several passport seekers who spoke to The Zimbabwean in Johannesburg early this week said they had been told to remain patient when they went to inquire about their documents.
There seems to be no progress at all in this and we are losing hope with each day that comes, said a passport seeker, who applied on the second day of applications.
The Zimbabweans accused President Robert Mugabes Zanu (PF) party of deliberately causing the delays.
Although Chris Mapanga, the Consular-general, could not be reached for comment, a source within the consulate confirmed the hold-up, which he said was a result of delays in Harare.
So far, we have received a few hundreds passports from the over 20 000 applications that we have processed and they are for those that applied for emergency passports. We really do not know when the passports will come because we are also being kept in the dark, said the source.
Post published in: World News