The move is to deal with the overwhelming applicants as the office at number 20 Anderson Street in Marshalltown is too small.

“I came here early in the morning and I have submitted my application .It’s very chilly out here but I would rather wait here and get my papers sorted than risk being bothered by police,” said Sakhile Ndlovu.

AfricaNews reporter said conditions are increasingly getting tougher at Refugee Reception Offices throughout South Africa. Undocumented Zimbabweans and Asylum seekers are being neglected to the extent those who have their permits expired despite reporting to the centres to have them renewed are left with no choice other than apply for passports.

Officials in Johannesburg however said on Wednesday that they have cut the number of applicants per day to 1000 as they could not cope with the numbers that continues to grow since the Zimbabwean Consulate released a circular inviting undocumented Zimbabweans to apply for Emergency Travel Documents last month.

“Limiting the number per day doesn’t mean that we are ill prepared to serve people. Everyone will get a chance, that’s why we are here,” said an official who pleaded anonymity.

South African authorities lifted stricter visa requirements in May on Zimbabweans wishing to travel to the southern African country for a period not more than ninety days.

They also announced they would be shortly issuing “special dispensation” permits for temporary residence to undocumented Zimbabweans who are illegally in the country.

Many Zimbabweans escaping economic hardship and political persecution in their country in recent years have sought economic and political refuge in South Africa, but have entered the country illegally owing to difficulties in getting passports as well as failure to afford the high visa costs.

Meanwhile, South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was reported to have been backtracking on the special dispensation that allows Zimbabwean migrants already in SA the right to live and work for up to a year, referring the matter back to the drawing board to be reviewed as some quarters believed there had not been enough consultation before announcing the measures.

South African Home Affairs department statistics say over 8000 Zimbabweans were applying daily for asylum and it hoped the new measures will ease the burden of people seeking asylum, allowing those who came to seek employment to do so easily.