HARARE - As Zimbabwe marked the one-year anniversary of the Global Political Agreement that brought in the transitional government, hundreds of people were queuing at the passport office, with plans to leave the country. (Pictured: Robert Mugabe & Morgan Tsvangirai)Desmond Kumbu, one of those in the queue, said he wanted to go to South Africa to get a job. He was hoping to receive an Emergency Travel Document as he did not have the US$400 required to obtain a passport. At the cross-border bus terminal, the Roadport, many of the intending travellers said they wanted to take advantage of the recent relaxation in South Africa’s visa regime and the signing of a labour protocol allowing Zimbabweans to work in South Africa.
Some said they would cross the border illegally as they either could not afford passports or could not wait to go through the lengthy process of obtaining documents.
The general mood among many of those interviewed on the streets of Harare was that things might have been much better had Robert Mugabe agreed to share meaningful power with former arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
Many of the people have gone back to buying and selling foreign currency, cell phones and a vast array of other goods and commodities.
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