Johannesburg - More than 200 000 Zimbabwean nationals have applied for the Zimbabwean Special Permits (ZSP) which will allow them to stay in South Africa after their original permits have expired, the department of home affairs said on Tuesday.
Department spokesman Thabo Mokgola said 208,967 applications had been submitted online as of March 13 via VFS Global Ä a visa application centre.
“A total of 206 939 applicants booked appointments with VFS for interviews, 2028 applicants have not booked appointments with VFS, and have till 31 March 2015 to do so, which is the closing date.”
Applications for the ZSP application process closed on December 31. The old Dispensation for Zimbabweans Project (DZP) permits expired on the same day.
This included permits whose expiry dates were beyond 31 December 2014, Mokgola said.
Eligible Zimbabwean nationals in possession of the old DZP permits were allowed by the department to be in the country and to travel between both countries, without being declared undesirable or arrested for being illegal, he said.
This was until their application process had been finalised, and they had been issued with their new ZSP permits.
“The ZSP will allow permit-holders to live, work, conduct business, study and financially transact in South Africa for the duration of the permit... The ZSP will be valid until 31 December 2017,” Mokgola said.
The process was expected to be finalised by the end of August.
Requirements of a ZSP included: a valid Zimbabwean passport; proof of employment or business registration or registration from a learning institution and a DZP reference number that had to be used for lodging the ZSP application online.
Sapa