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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau

South African Home Affairs offices have extended operating hours from 8am to 7pm to cope with the expected flood of those requiring documents to travel or register children ahead of the new school year.

Some of the people expected to use the Home Affairs offices are citizens from other countries, among them Zimbabweans seeking to regularise their stay.

In a statement yesterday, the Department of Home Affairs said it had extended operating hours between 2 and 10 January to meet the anticipated increase in demand of services during the period before schools re-open.

The department said people should also take advantage of the extension of operating times and collect their outstanding documents, among them national IDs.

The organisation said it was concerned by the amount of uncollected smart ID cards.

Late last year, the organisation urged about 3 000 Zimbabweans to collect their outstanding permits under the Zimbabwe Exemption Permits (ZEP) facility.

Pretoria introduced a four-year permit for those wishing to study or work in that country from January 2018.