Zim permit seekers flood SA offices

Over 195 000 Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa are seeking to regularise their stay and have applied for permits as part of the Zimbabwe Special Permits Dispensation, with an additional 50 000 new applicants expected to be received by the end of the month.

The high number of applicants is telling of the reluctance by Zimbabweans living south of the Limpopo to return home, where an acute economic collapse, widespread company closures and unemployment are crippling the economy.

Independent estimates place the number of Zimbabweans living in South Africa at nearly three million people.