SHOCKER AS IT’S E300 FOR SWAZI PASSPORT

MBABANE – Swazis preparing to travel outside the country should be prepared to fork out at least E300 for a travel document.

This is because the Ministry of Home Affairs has run out of the usual 32-page travel documents, which cost E80 each. Interestingly, this is happening when most people are expected to travel to different destinations for the festive season.
Another irony in this is that it was towards the end of last year when the ministry ran out of travel documents, something which caused a headache to many, including those studying in different universities in neighboring South Africa.
The running out the 32-page travel documents has led to a situation where the ministry has been left with no option but to sell the new 48-page ones, known as the bumper travel documents, which cost E300. The bumper travel documents were initially made for those individuals who travelled a lot, especially those in the trucking business. Some of those who went to the ministry on Friday were shocked when they were told that the only travel documents that were available were those that cost E300. This newspaper was flooded with calls with many asking if the proposed increase in prices had already been effected. “Even if they have increased the prices, the E300 is not fair to us Swazis. We cannot afford to pay that much,” said one of the concerned callers.

Acting Chief Immigration Officer Makhosi Simelane dispelled the rumours that the new price increase had been effected. He admitted that his office had actually run out of the stock of the usual travel documents, saying they were working on getting more. “We have run out of stock and had no other alternative but to sell to the public the new product which is the bumper passport. So it is the new travel documents of 48 pages that we are selling at E300 while the 64-page is E500,” he said. He explained that the proposed increase was still a logistical process as it still had to go to Parliament before it could come into force. Simelane highlighted that running out of stock was a sign that there were many people who had applied for the documents. “We are in the process of getting more stock so the public should not fear. Once we are done with the new prices, we will make an official announcement so that everyone is informed. For now, nothing has changed except that we are selling the new product which is obviously expensive due to its size and number of pages,” he said. Furthermore, Masilela stated that even if the new prices are eventually effected, the usual 32-page travel document was not going to cost E300 but would be around E150.

On December 29 last year, it was reported that the principal secretary Anthony Masilela had suffered great frustration when he had to await the clearance of 20 000 travel documents while in South Africa. Masilela had taken it upon himself to travel to that country to await the arrival of the documents after a month of limited stock in the country and citizens waiting for their arrival. The problem was eventually solved in early January which brought relief to those who had been waiting for weeks, including students studying in South Africa.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: