JOHANNESBURG Zimbabweans are afraid they could miss out on the ongoing South African documentation process, as they are still awaiting their passports from the Consulate.July 31 is the deadline for the dispatch of freely-processed permits to Zimbabwean applicants. Those who remain undocumented facing immediate arrest and deportation, but with the Zimbabwean Consulate having set tomorrow (Friday) as the deadline for Zimbabweans to collect their passports from its offices, most are afraid that they will not get their documents on time.
Many of those who applied in late December and January have still not received their documents. The Zimbabwean government has been accused of trying to sabotage the process, which could allow most exiles, considered by Zanu (PF) to support the MDC, to go home and vote.
Chances grow slimmer by the day that we will get our passports in time for us to finish the application process with the South African Home Affairs, said Melusi Mpofu, an applicant.
The problem is that officials at the Consulate offices are very arrogant when we try to inquire with them on the status of our applications.
An official from The Zimbabwean Consulate, who refused to furnish our reporter with her name, was adamant that the May 20 deadline would be met for applicants to get their passports, but refused to explain what has caused the delay so far.
Sources within the department blamed the delay on former Consular general, Chris Mapanga, who was recently transferred from the office under a cloud.
He was very difficult to work with and took weeks to authorize the transportation of the documents to Harare, hence the slow pace of the process, but we hope that this will not affect us, but the deadline can still be moved to early June, if it is not met, said another official.
Post published in: News