Zim process flawed - Study

THE process of documenting Zimbabweans is dogged by "administrative challenges" and poor communication, a study by the African Centre for Migration and Society has found.

"We can assume that many Zimbabweans were simply unable to navigate the documentation process because of its administrative challenges and the lack of effective communication, as well as misinformation from the regional offices," senior researcher Roni Amit said yesterday.

The centre conducted the study by monitoring several Home Affairs offices and surveyed around 905 applicants queuing there between October and December last year.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans had applied to stay in South Africa after the Home Affairs Department gave them an opportunity to legalise their stay in the country.

The study found the short time period for the project was the "greatest obstacle to its success".

"While we commend the Department of Home Affairs for these efforts, the department did not set a realistic time frame for implementing the process," Amit said.

"Instead, they chose to discount the problems by repeatedly asserting that our empirically grounded estimates of how many Zimbabweans are in the country have no basis."

Those surveyed were "confused and uninformed" about the project requirements, she said.

Administrative concerns stemmed from a lack of clarity over how the review and appeals process would work, particularly for those rejected early in the process.

Other concerns included "unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles", practices across offices were not uniform, regional offices rejected applications without submitting them, and many asylum seekers were forced to give up their status to apply for permits under the project.