Behind the long, long wait for a Zimbabwean passport

10 December 2021 – Business Day 

Zimbabwe has brought down its passport backlog from 400,000 last August to about 185,000. But accessing travel documents quickly is a prohibitively expensive process for most

Vitalis Tsikwa is dejected as he steps onto the dusty red soil outside the Makombe building in Harare, Zimbabwe.

"They told me to come and do the application to get my passport on December 15 because they wanted to clear a backlog," Tsikwa tells the FM. "I wanted an emergency 24-hour passport … I thank God that I didn’t have immediate travel plans."..

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Long queues at Home Affairs in spite of minister’s promise

10 December -  2021 Ground up

But provincial manager claims “Home Affairs has declared war on queues”

In October, Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi responded to complaints by the public about long queues, saying offices were being modernised. He promised extended hours, a full return of staff, and that senior managers would visit offices unannounced to monitor operations on the ground.

But when GroundUp visited several Home Affairs offices last week, the queues were still long, and people had still been queuing since dawn in the hope, often vain, of being assisted.

Central Johannesburg, Thursday morning: long, snaking queues on two sides of the Home Affairs building. Vangile Msimanga, from Vlakfontein, said she left home at 6:15am to get to Home Affairs by 7am. She needs a passport. Also standing in the queue was Ntombi Zwane, from Brixton, who needs an ID. “I am a bit worried because this queue is not moving,” she said.

Central Cape Town, Barrack Street, Thursday morning. When the offices opened at 8am, queues stretched from Buitenkant Street to Corporation Street. People arranged themselves into queues for collections, ID-card applications and passport applications, new birth registrations, and temporary ID-card applications. “We stand in the queue for five hours and there’s no toilet facilities … I don’t know why they don’t let the people use the toilets inside,” said Yulene Fortune. She had left her home in Mannenberg just after 4am. She needed to collect her new ID card. Photo: Marecia Damons

Meanwhile, on 24 November, Home Affairs briefed the Standing Committee on Premier and Constitutional Matters about systems, operational hours and staffing in the Western Cape. Provincial manager Yusuf Simons said that the department’s working hours are 7:30am till 4pm, with the office open to the public from 8am to 3:30pm.

Simons said that between 2013 and August 2020, Western Cape Home Affairs had lost over 2,500 staff members. “To address the problem of under staffing, DHA is working towards implementing automated services and training staff that has been working on manual services. The booking system has been completed, tested and will be implemented soon to make appointments to avoid the stampede and overcrowding. The department has also entered into partnership with organisations and municipalities to help with queue marshals, cleaners, sanitising, screening and recording of clients queueing outside offices. EPWP [Extended Public Works Programme] workers have been deployed to high volume offices like Cape Town, Nyanga, Mitchells Plain, Bellville and Khayelithsa,” he said.

He said most of the Western Cape offices have been modernised and have live data capture systems. “Home Affairs has declared war on queues to reduce waiting time by displaying signage outside offices to categorise queues into smart card and passport applications, smart card and passport collections, prioritise client categories, such as elderly, physically challenged persons, mothers with infants as well as scholars in uniform. We have also extended office hours during the festive season. Challenges experienced are system downtimes due to cable theft and loadshedding which damage servers and equipment when generators refuse to kick in,” he said.

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Zimbabweans living in South Africa might not be able to travel home for the holidays

Mail & Guardian - 10 Dec 2021

Every year, at around this time, many of the hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who live in South Africa make their way back home. Over the holiday period, families and friends reunite, and the country’s struggling economy gets a desperately needed influx of foreign currency.

Not this year, though. In a shock announcement, Zimbabwe’s government has effectively closed the border to ordinary travellers. According to spokesperson Nick Mangwana, anyone coming into Zimbabwe must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days — at their own expense. This emergency measure is designed to prevent the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, he said.

It has thrown holiday plans into chaos, because few people can afford the time or the money to quarantine.

This is the second dose of bad news for Zimbabweans living in South Africa in a matter of weeks. Last month, South Africa’s government announced that it would not renew the Zimbabwean special permit at the end of this year. The permit was introduced in 2010 to legalise an influx of refugees — overwhelmingly ordinary people fleeing economic hardship and political persecution — and has allowed more than 200 000 Zimbabweans to live and work in South Africa.

Now, in what has been widely criticised as a populist decision, South Africa says they must go back to where they came from — and given them a grace period until the end of 2022 to do so.

This decision is likely to be challenged in court. “It’s impossible for anyone to do anything to migrate to a [different] permit in that time. It’s impractical,” advocate Simba Chitando told CapeTalk radio station.

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Important news on the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit

The South African - 10 December 2021

Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa with Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) should note an important 0development regarding ZEPs.

Zimbabwean Exemption Permit. AdobeStock

The South African Government will no longer issue extensions to Zimbabwean citizens holding Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP). The South African Government announced the decision on the ZEPs at the end of November 2021.

All ZEPs will expire on 31 December 2021.

GRACE PERIOD FOR ZEP HOLDERS

The good news is that the SA Government will grant a grace period of twelve months to all ZEP holders following the expiry of these permits on 31 December 2021.

ZEP holders thus have twelve months to regularise their stay in South Africa. ZEP holders can regularise their stay by finding alternative means to stay in South Africa legally by December 2022.

ZEP holders who cannot find alternative ways to stay legally in South Africa by December 2022 will have to leave South Africa or face deportation.

RULES FOR ORGANISATIONS DEALING WITH ZIMBABWEAN EXEMPTION PERMIT HOLDERS

Companies, employers, learning institutions and banks must allow ZEP holders to continue their services.

However, ZEP holders must provide proof of application for a mainstream South African visa to such organisations. They must also submit a VFS receipt with their proof of application for a mainstream SA visa.

TRAVELLING IN AND OUT OF SOUTH AFRICA AS A ZEP HOLDER

Zimbabwean nationals with a Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) can travel freely in and out of South Africa until 31 December 2022. However, when the grace period ends 31 December 2022, they will only be allowed to travel in and out of South Africa with a valid SA visa.

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ASYLUM SEEKERS PERMIT EXPIRED during LOCKDOWN – Don’t know what to do ?

Apply Now for Temporary Residence even with EXPIRED LOCKDOWN PERMITS

The Constitutional Court handed down a judgement in the Ahmed matter as well as a Court Order opening the door for Asylum Seekers and Refugees to apply to change their status to  temporary residence visa . Contact us now before this fantastic opportunity is lost .

Contact us now and ask me HOW CHANGE TO TEMPORARY RESIDENCE . Travel abroad from South Africa , get a Canada , Schengen Visa afterwards .

Under the new rules they don’t have to cancel their asylum or refugee status and can change to any visa class if they qualify from within
South Africa

please contact us on :
Sa Migration International

Whatsapp  Tel No : +27 (0) 82 373 8415

Tel No office : +27 (0) 82 373 8415 ( Whatsapp )

Tel No admin : +27 (0) 64 126 3073
Tel No sales : +27 (0) 74 0366127
Fax No : 086 579 0155

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