Anger at huge jump in Zimbabwean passport price

More than 1,000 people have signed a petition calling on the government of Zimbabwe to review a decision to hike the cost of a passport by nearly 50%.

On 26 July, the Zimbabwean consulate in Johannesburg announced that the price of a passport would rise from 170 US dollars (about R3,100) to 250 US dollars (about R4,540).

“The Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage has directed that all e-Passports applications that are processed at the Consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa, shall be handled as express/emergency applications in terms of Statutory Instrument 1 of 2024. In effect, this means passport application fees for the express/emergency passport shall be USD250.00 charged at the prevailing USD/ZAR exchange rate with effect from Monday 29 July 2024,” the consulate said.

The Zimbabwe Community in South Africa, which aims to represent the interests of Zimbabweans, launched a petition on 30 July.

The petition said: “This fee is far beyond what many Zimbabwean nationals in South Africa can afford, considering the average earnings of our community. It’s an overwhelming burden that prevents us from securing our legal documents which are part and parcel of our fundamental human rights. We believe everyone, regardless of their economic conditions, has a right to their own nationality. We call upon the Zimbabwean government to reassess these fees and reduce them to a fair amount.”

The petition had gathered over 1,100 signatures as of the morning of 2 August.

The chairperson of the Zimbabwe Community in South Africa, Ngqabutho Mabhena said: “The Zimbabwean passport is very expensive. Government wants to use the passport as a tool to raise money.”

A Zimbabwean who lives in Cape Town and whose passport is expiring in the next two weeks said he would get his application for a new passport processed at the consulate in Cape Town but would courier the application to Zimbabwe so that he could pay the old rate of 170 US dollars.

“I can not afford the new price because I have a family to feed and rent to pay,” he said.

“The Zimbabwean government is heartless,” said another Zimbabwean, an informal trader living in Gqeberha. “We are suffering in foreign countries because of their mismanagement of our country and they now milk us dry like this.”

Chris Mapingure, chairman of the Zimbabwe Migrants Support Network, said the government of Zimbabwe should consider low-income earners in South Africa.

“The majority of them do not have formal jobs. They’re earning less than R5,000 per month. Many people won’t afford this amount and a lot of people will remain undocumented.”

RESPONSE FROM ZIMBABWEAN AMBASSADOR

Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa, David Hamadziripi responding to a request for comment from GroundUp explained that there are two passport prices: “The first is the ordinary passport that costs USD170 and the second is the express/emergency that is charged USD250.”

But all passports applications made in South Africa are now being handled as express/emergency.

“We have taken note of the reactions by our nationals in respect of the cost of the e-passport/express and we’re engaging our government to be aware of these responses,” said Hamadziripi.

“The Embassy in Pretoria and the Johannesburg and Cape Town Consulates implement government policies so when we have reactions from our citizens we make our government aware of these national concerns.”