By a Correspondent
Zimbabwe has blamed bureaucratic processes by South African authorities for delaying the repatriation of its nationals seeking to return home amid ongoing anti-immigration protests in South Africa.
Authorities in Harare say the slow profiling and verification process being conducted by South African officials is hindering the swift return of Zimbabweans, despite the government having put arrangements in place to receive them.
Responding to concerns raised by Zimbabweans in Cape Town who are seeking assistance to return home, Deputy Chief Secretary for Presidential Communications in the Office of the President and Cabinet, George Charamba, said the government remains committed to fulfilling its consular obligations and is facilitating the return of its citizens.
“The Zimbabwe Government has and remains responsible for all the movement of Zimbabweans back home. No one else is doing that,” Charamba said in a statement.
He said the government was fully aware of its responsibilities towards Zimbabweans living abroad and was carrying them out diligently.
“Government is aware of its consular responsibilities which it discharges with honour,” he said.
Charamba dismissed suggestions that the delays were due to a lack of preparedness or resources on Zimbabwe’s part, instead attributing them to administrative procedures being undertaken by South African authorities.
As of June 26, about 3,624 Zimbabwean nationals displaced from South Africa had been repatriated.
Information Minister Zhemu Soda said an inter-ministerial team had been deployed to Beitbridge and was “working around the clock to facilitate smooth border clearance and provide on-the-ground support to every returning citizen.”
There are no official figures on the number of Zimbabweans living in South Africa. When Pretoria invited Zimbabweans to regularise their stay through the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), about 250,000 people registered, although some estimates suggest the actual Zimbabwean population in South Africa could be as high as 2.5 million.
Most of those requesting repatriation are in Cape Town, where hundreds have been camping outside the Zimbabwean consulate in the District Six area while awaiting assistance to return home.
