Pretoria - The Department of Home Affairs has received more than 18 000 applications from Zimbabweans since the start of the documentation process.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Home Affairs Director General Mkuseli Apleni said that by 8 October, 18 454 applications had been received by his department.
Undocumented Zimbabweans living in South Africa have until 31 December to apply to the department to have their stay in the country registered.
Since the process began on 20 September, there have been particularly high volumes of applications at the department's offices in Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Apleni said so far, 465 fraudulent documents had been handed in. He encouraged more Zimbabweans in possession of fake South African documents to come forward, adding that amnesty would be granted.
Apleni said the department was keeping a close eye on the documentation process and was receiving daily statistics.
The hassle of long queues would be eliminated by giving applicants forms before they reach Home Affairs offices. Only fingerprints would be taken at the offices.
Offices in Gauteng were already trying this approach.
More visits to these offices are expected in the coming weeks to evaluate if this helped ease the high volumes.
Apleni said it was difficult to estimate how many Zimbabweans would apply for documentation but the department would commit more resources if the numbers significantly increased.
