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“I came here on Saturday and I expect to have a passport before I go back in two weeks’ time. This is the only opportunity I have,” said Mr Fundani Dube.
“I have been in South Africa for the past three years and to be honest it is very difficult to live there without legal documents. Police will always be after you and you lose a lot of money bribing them to let you go.”
Mrs Nonhlanhla Ncube, who also works in South Africa, said she was prepared to stay home until she gets the passport.
“I will remain here until I get the passport so that I can travel safely when I return. I came here at five o’clock and I have been booked for 11 January,” she said.
While some wanted to get passports for the first time, others wanted to replace lost ones or renew expired ones.
Meanwhile, vendors took the opportunity to make brisk business by selling passport covers, affidavit forms with some street photographers taking instant passport photographs.
A similar scenario was also observed at the Plumtree registry offices on Thursday where scores of people flooded the office seeking birth and identity particulars. Bulilima District Administrator Mrs Ethel Moyo said the congestion at the registry office in Plumtree was normal during the holidays.
“It is mainly people from South Africa and Botswana who want to update their documents before they go back. It is not something alarming because they always do it during the holidays,” said Mrs Moyo.
Contacted for comment Bulawayo provincial registrar, Mrs Jane Peters admitted that there was increased pressure at the registrar’s office.
She, however, said her office was able to manage the pressure.
“We give bookings to the people who want passports so that we serve them efficiently. We serve Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces and I would not say the pressure is a result of people from the Diaspora. Perhaps it is because of the holidays as most people have time to get these documents,” said Mrs Peters.
“People who are not resident in Zimbabwe have a special service unit in Harare where they are served. That is why we require proof of residence from our clients to ensure that they are people from Bulawayo and Matabeleland North.”
Mrs Peters urged people to keep their documents safely in order to reduce congestion at the registrar’s offices.
“Some of the people you see in the queues for identity particulars are not new applicants. They are people who would have lost their documents. We urge them to keep their documents safely,” she said.
Online Reporter