News / Africa
Large queues being managed: Home Affairs
30 Dec 2010 at 17:44hrs | Views
Large queues are being managed as the deadline looms for Zimbabweans to apply to make their stay in South Africa legal, the home affairs department said Today (30 Dec 2010).
"There are big numbers; Queues are moving fast," Gauteng provincial spokesman Ronald Ndema said.
There had been no operational problems and the department was confident everyone would be attended to, he said.
"It's a sickness in our country. Even in soccer, if you say the game starts at 4pm, you expect them to be there at three but they come 15 minutes after the game has started."
Illegal Zimbabweans were given a deadline of December 31 to apply for documents to legalise their stay in the country.
In the Western Cape, provincial spokesman Yusuf Simons said he was helping out at the office.
"We have doubled our staff complement. We'll help everyone that's here even if it's up to midnight tonight," he said.
In the Northern Cape and Free State, things were much quieter.
"It's going very well," Free State spokesman Bonakele Mayekiso said.
"But we don't have big numbers. There are four people in the queue."
Comment from the other provinces was not immediately available.
In April last year, government announced a moratorium on deporting Zimbabweans and granted them a special dispensation for one year so that they could obtain documents from Zimbabwean officials based in South Africa.
"There are big numbers; Queues are moving fast," Gauteng provincial spokesman Ronald Ndema said.
There had been no operational problems and the department was confident everyone would be attended to, he said.
"It's a sickness in our country. Even in soccer, if you say the game starts at 4pm, you expect them to be there at three but they come 15 minutes after the game has started."
Illegal Zimbabweans were given a deadline of December 31 to apply for documents to legalise their stay in the country.
In the Western Cape, provincial spokesman Yusuf Simons said he was helping out at the office.
In the Northern Cape and Free State, things were much quieter.
"It's going very well," Free State spokesman Bonakele Mayekiso said.
"But we don't have big numbers. There are four people in the queue."
Comment from the other provinces was not immediately available.
In April last year, government announced a moratorium on deporting Zimbabweans and granted them a special dispensation for one year so that they could obtain documents from Zimbabwean officials based in South Africa.
Source - Byo24 South Africa Correspondent
