News / Africa
South Africa finalises permit process
26 Aug 2015 at 06:52hrs | Views
THE South African government on Monday said it would complete the processing and issuing out work and study permits for the 200 000 Zimbabweans who applied to regularise their stay in that country by September 30.
Home Affairs Minister Mr Malusi Gigaba said in a statement that they had adjudicated 197 303 of the 200 000 applications within the first six months of the project - January to July.
He said 12 228 applications had been rejected for various reasons.
"Collection of ZSPs will close on September 30, 2015. In this regard, a public notice had been placed in the media, on 12-15 August, 2015, by VFS Global.
"The cut-off date for receiving ZSP applications was December 2014. Applications were received by VFS Global and adjudicated by the Department, with July 31, 2015 as our deadline for departmental adjudication and processing of applications," he said.
"The ZSPs are valid until December 31, 2017, after which date they will expire. From January 1, 2018, Zimbabweans would apply for a normal visa which is applicable in the law.
Mr Gigaba said 729 applications were still under adjudication while 185 075 of the submitted applications had since been approved.
He added that the Department of Home Affairs had dispatched 161 677 permits to the Visa Facilitations Service where 128 317 had since been collected. He said a further 26 986 were yet to be collected.
"The bulk of the remaining work is administrative involving printing and dispatch of outstanding ZSP certificates to VFS, followed by clients' collection of decision. The 30th of September 2015 is the target date for completion of outstanding tasks, including collections.
"The marginal 0,3 percent remaining on our adjudication target arises as a consequence of files that do not have supporting documents or electronic attachments that cannot be opened or retrieved. These cases are being addressed individually and efforts to contact the affected applicants are underway.
"The rejected cases (12 228) are being reviewed this month, to ensure integrity of the final decision on the rejection and to prevent unwarranted appeal applications," said Mr Gigaba.
He also commended Zimbabweans for responding positively to the regularisation process.
Zimbabwe's Consul-General to South Africa, Mr Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro, said although they were yet to get official communication from their hosts on the ZSP process, they were calling on those Zimbabweans who failed to get the permits to regularise their stay in that country through the normal channels.
"You will note that once the process is complete, those with rejected permits become illegal immigrants here. It is important for them to legalise their stay and avoid unnecessary situations.
"Most of those who failed to get the permits are already aware while others are still being informed, and we believe that by the end of September they will have complied with laws," he said.
He also called on Zimbabweans to apply for the right permits before travelling.
Home Affairs Minister Mr Malusi Gigaba said in a statement that they had adjudicated 197 303 of the 200 000 applications within the first six months of the project - January to July.
He said 12 228 applications had been rejected for various reasons.
"Collection of ZSPs will close on September 30, 2015. In this regard, a public notice had been placed in the media, on 12-15 August, 2015, by VFS Global.
"The cut-off date for receiving ZSP applications was December 2014. Applications were received by VFS Global and adjudicated by the Department, with July 31, 2015 as our deadline for departmental adjudication and processing of applications," he said.
"The ZSPs are valid until December 31, 2017, after which date they will expire. From January 1, 2018, Zimbabweans would apply for a normal visa which is applicable in the law.
Mr Gigaba said 729 applications were still under adjudication while 185 075 of the submitted applications had since been approved.
He added that the Department of Home Affairs had dispatched 161 677 permits to the Visa Facilitations Service where 128 317 had since been collected. He said a further 26 986 were yet to be collected.
"The bulk of the remaining work is administrative involving printing and dispatch of outstanding ZSP certificates to VFS, followed by clients' collection of decision. The 30th of September 2015 is the target date for completion of outstanding tasks, including collections.
"The marginal 0,3 percent remaining on our adjudication target arises as a consequence of files that do not have supporting documents or electronic attachments that cannot be opened or retrieved. These cases are being addressed individually and efforts to contact the affected applicants are underway.
"The rejected cases (12 228) are being reviewed this month, to ensure integrity of the final decision on the rejection and to prevent unwarranted appeal applications," said Mr Gigaba.
He also commended Zimbabweans for responding positively to the regularisation process.
Zimbabwe's Consul-General to South Africa, Mr Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro, said although they were yet to get official communication from their hosts on the ZSP process, they were calling on those Zimbabweans who failed to get the permits to regularise their stay in that country through the normal channels.
"You will note that once the process is complete, those with rejected permits become illegal immigrants here. It is important for them to legalise their stay and avoid unnecessary situations.
"Most of those who failed to get the permits are already aware while others are still being informed, and we believe that by the end of September they will have complied with laws," he said.
He also called on Zimbabweans to apply for the right permits before travelling.
Source - the herald
