SA urged to extend Zim documentation deadline

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa have started applying for permits to remain there, after the government announced it was ending its moratorium on Zimbabwean deportations at the end of the year. But the Zimbabwe Documentation Project, which started last week, has already been marred by reports of corruption and confusion and it is clear that the December 31st deadline will be hard to meet.

Refugee rights group PASSOP has now urged the government to extend the deadline, calling it unrealistic and unreasonable. PASSOPs Braam Hanekom told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that the Department of Home Affairs does not have the capacity to deal with the number of people applying for permits, which Hanekom said is increasing daily

The departments offices are clearly unable to keep up with all the enquiries and applications and they are openly creating a backlog, Hanekom said. Many Zimbabweans have been left queuing for days at a time, trying to get their applications processed, and its understood that the turnaround is less than 100 people a day.

South Africas Home Affairs department has agreed to issue work and study permits to the millions of Zimbabweans believed to be living without proper papers in South Africa and Zimbabweans already working, engaged in business or studying in South Africa will be issued with relevant permits, on condition they produce valid documents to show they are citizens of Zimbabwe. But there are increasing media reports that people are being denied permits, despite promises that everyone with proper documentation is eligible.

Hanekom explained that the biggest issue is the failure of the Zimbabwean government to prioritise getting its citizens in South Africa proper passports. The process is almost entirely hinged on getting passports, and there are concerns that this process alone will take until December. Zimbabwes co-ministers of Home Affairs earlier this month announced that passport fees had been slashed to US$50, down from US$140. The price cut is meant to encourage Zimbabweans to get their papers in order and avoid deportation from South Africa. But that is still a large amount of money for Zimbabweans in South Africa to find.

SW Radio Africa has been told that corruption at embassies is already slowing down the process, with some embassy officials apparently insisting on bribes before taking applications. It is also understood that illegal Nigerians in South Africa have been issued Zimbabwean passports, for a fee paid to corrupt embassy officials. Further slowing down the process are reports that some embassies have not even started issuing passports. Other embassies have also told many Zimbabweans, desperate to avoid deportation, that the passports will only be available after several weeks and not the promised ten days.

We are very disappointed that the Zimbabwean government has not taken this more seriously, because their citizens in South Africa make huge financial contributions to the Zimbabwe economy, Hanekom said.

The growing frustration at Zimbabwean embassies has already led to some instances of violence, and this week security guards at the Zimbabwe Consulate in Johannesburg were assaulted by impatient applicants. The entire office was evicted from the building because of the violence, and officials are now operating from a temporary location in Braamfontein. At the same time, there have been reports that Zimbabweans have also faced abuse from police, and a woman was pepper-sprayed by a policeman this week, while she was queuing for documents.

The South African authorities need to take the pressure off everyone by extending this deadline, or there will be more abuse and violence, Hanekom warned.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear how thousands of undocumented Zimbabweans in the centre of Cape Town will be able to get Zimbabwean passports. The Zimbabwean Consulate in the city has been taken over by homeless people, the majority of whom are, ironically, Zimbabwean nationals. There are concerns that Zimbabweans in the city will have to travel to Pretoria to get their passports. If they have no choice but to live in an abandoned building, it is obvious they cant afford the journey.