Harare — Johannesburg city authorities will provide accommodation to more than 1 000 Zimbabweans illegally settled in South Africa as efforts to regularise their residence gather momentum.

This follows the release on Monday of 350 Zimbabweans arrested over the weekend on allegations of loitering and blocking pavements. At the same time, a South African non-governmental organisation announced it would provide accommodation for the Zimbabweans arrested in the weekend blitz.

Speaking from Pretoria, Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa, Simon Khaya-Moyo, said he hoped the move was positive in the two countries' efforts to regularise the stay of Zimbabweans illegally settled in SA.

"The process (of registering Zimbabweans) has been affected by the political activities in the country, which have seen a new government and a new minister coming. "This, we expected, would affect the process of registering and regularising the stay of our people illegally settled in South Africa," said the ambassador.

City of Johannesburg spokesperson Mr Nthatisi Modingoane announced they would provide accommodation for 1 150 Zimbabwean immigrants. Ambassador Khaya-Moyo urged Zimbabweans staying in South Africa without proper travel documents to register with relevant authorities.

"Zimbabweans in South Africa should take advantage of the arrangement we have made with our counterparts and register so that they regularise their stay in the country. "They should, however, identify themselves - that is through their birth certificates or provide their proof of residence."

The ambassador dismissed reports that Zimbabweans in SA were refugees, insisting they were economic migrants. "No genuine Zimbabwean, who is employed and is productive, would want to stay on the streets of Johannesburg or any other city, for that matter," he said. "We want these people to work with our offices to regularise their stay and be productive."

He said since the signing of an agreement between the two countries for the waiver of visas earlier this year, many Zimbabweans had applied for emergency travel documents to visit their families.

"The numbers continue to grow every day as more people visit our consulate for travel documents."

But SA Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Mr Ronnie Mamoepa, called for the speedy resolution of relations between Zimbabwe and the Western countries which imposed sanctions on the country. "The solution is to resolve the situation in Zimbabwe," Mr Mamoepa said.

He said the lifting of sanctions would afford Zimbabwe the opportunity to rebuild the economy as most of Zimbabweans in South Africa were economic migrants. South Africa scrapped visa requirements for Zimbabweans early this year. Zimbabweans can now apply to stay in SA for up to 90 days and also apply for menial jobs during their stay.