By A Correspondent- The Registrar General (RG’s) Office has reopened to the public after having scaled-down operations when the country recorded a rise in coronavirus infections.

At the peak of COVID-19 cases, the registry was mainly issuing burial orders.

Issuance of birth certificates, passports and IDs were suspended during the intensified lockdown as the Government had decongested the workplace to 20 per cent.

President Mnangagwa on Tuesday reviewed the national lockdown from Level Four to Level Two and among the new measures, the workplace operates with 50 per cent capacity.

The relaxation of lockdown regulations has seen the Civil Registry Department, commonly known as RG’s Office, increasing its services to the public and has started accepting passport applications, issuing births certificates and IDs.

In an interview with the Chronicle, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister Ruth Maboyi said the reopening of the RG’s Office to the public is in line with the reviewed lockdown measures. She said:

The RG’s Office had reduced its operations owing to the increase in COVID-19 cases. But since the cases have decreased it has reopened and we expect it to attend to as many people as possible and attend to their national documentation issues.

She said the RG’s Office would gradually increase its services to the public and attend to existing backlogs.

Meanwhile, passport seekers in Bulawayo expressed disappointment as only a handful of applicants were being attended to.

They said officials told them that they were screening and prioritising emergency cases among the documents’ seekers.