Zimbabwe’s Consul-General to Johannesburg, Melody Chaurura said that a public notice claiming that the office has started processing e-passports for Zimbabwean citizens based in South Africa is fake.
In a statement, Chaurura said the purported public notice, dated 25 April 2022, is the work of fraudsters and should be ignored.
She said urgent electronic/biometric passports can only be applied for in-person at the passport office in Bulawayo and Harare. Said Chaurura:
It has come to our attention that there is a document, dated 25 April 2022, bearing our letterhead and stamp inviting members of the public to apply for virtual consular services and the assistance in applying for 24 hours express urgent electronic/biometric passports.
The public is hereby advised that the ‘public notice’ is fake and should be disregarded with the contempt it deserves.
It is certainly the work of scammers and fraudsters who always seek to use the good name of the Consulate to swindle nationals’ hard-earned cash.
As noted in our public notice on 8 February 2022, currently the new e-passport can only be applied for in-person at the Passport office in Bulawayo and Harare.
She said Zimbabweans in South Africa can still visit the Consulate in Johannesburg or in Cape Town to apply for passports in the usual way.
The Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria or the consulate in Johannesburg and Cape Town have no agents who act on their behalf, Chaurura said: