ZSP applicants in panic mode as DHA in South Africa misses crucial deadline!

The ZSP Permits Forum in close association with ZIM-ID (SA) is currently being inundated largely with voice call enquiries concerning the actual date of release of the permits by the SA Department of Home Affairs under the current ZSP dispensation process given it is already way over 2 months after permit submissions started. Indeed, the applicants are justified to be in a panic mode since the average expected timeframe was initially confirmed to be about 8 weeks, although the VFS Global website accompanies such a highly publicised turnaround timeframe with a disclaimer note.

However, we are in the process of verifying the authenticity of a few SMS messages from early applicants received as from yesterday (14/01/2015) which were supposedly informing such ZSP applicants their permit outcomes are ready for collection. We cannot currently deny such a possibility, but what we know is that DHA is still non-committal to publicly confirm and proclaim an official date of release of the permits. Actually, most DHA executive were or are still on holidays until this week. We advise applicants to also cross-check on the online tracking system before rushing to any VFS Centre in anticipation to receive their decision outcome as yet after receiving such an SMS.

It is important to also take note that all the other standard or ordinary permit type categories by any foreign applicant who is planning to enter South Africa have a turnaround of between 8-10 weeks. The ZSP Permits Forum in its association with Zimbabwe's Independent Democrats, or ZIM-ID (SA) is reasonably worried by some absence of clear public pronouncements on actual dates as yet regarding when the applicants should ready themselves to start collecting or expecting their decision outcomes from DHA (SA) as the online tracking system of VFS Global is technically still not useful in that regard. As a paid-up service through the non-refundable fee of R870 we are of the view that ZSP applicants need not to be left in the dark at any stage in this whole process of permit renewals.

There was excitement in the horizons for ZSP Permits Forum, ZIM-ID (SA) and other interested stakeholders when Minister Malusi Gigaba of SA Home Affairs in a media briefing of 20th November 2014 confirmed an adjudication process of nearly over 30 000 applicants having been completed or finalised. Actually, the whole ZSP process has been reasonably organised and seemingly efficient especially with the outsourcing of applications process to the VFS Global Company that it could even have been highly possible to release most decision outcomes for whatever permit category within at most two (2) weeks.

Therefore, we strongly sense that the DHA (SA) is about to seriously discredit an otherwise successfully implemented ZSP Project dispensation under the new pilot project on immigration systems in South Africa. Also, we were equally disappointed at the suspension of the process that was assisting eligible Zimbabwean applicants with a proof of 2010 acknowledgement receipts to get their new reference numbers as the whole procedure was abruptly stopped without proper and sufficient notifications.

Although it is highly speculated and reportedly mainly due to some corrupt tendencies that had infiltrated the process yet again, we believe suspending the whole provision was not the best alternative and well deserving applicants will then be assisted in due course.  As ZSP Permits Forum in our close association with the Zimbabwe's Independent Democrats (SA Team Diaspora) and other recognised structures with concerns or challenges of Zimbabweans Living in SA at heart we shall continue to engage the SA government and its authorities to find lasting solutions in such issues and many more related matters.

We are still very confident on the quality of permit applications that were submitted in the current ZSP Dispensation especially through our own assistance or with refined information received from us as ZSP Permits Forum that the DHA decision outcomes will indeed be positive with an almost guaranteed 100% success rate.