Zimbabweans who have submitted applications to legalise their stay in South Africa will not be deported, Home Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said in Johannesburg on Monday.

"The deadline is the last day to accept applications. Those who have applied need not worry," she said.

After the December 31 deadline, applications would be processed. Until such time that all those who had applied had been issued with permits no deportations would take place.

"We cannot put a date on it," she said at the Harrison Street office during her visit to ascertain the volumes of Zimbabweans applying to have their stay in the country regularised.

She said applicants who did not have passports could use any form of identification they had to apply because Harare was slow in processing passports.

Dlamini-Zuma said the December 31 cut-off date would not be extended.

"There will be no extension. The process was given a year, it should have been concluded in April this year."

Spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in South Africa, Sibanengi Dube said the MDC was worried that not all Zimbabweans would have submitted their application by the cut-off date.

"We will engage home affairs in this regard," he said.

"The aim of the process is not to deport people after the December 31, deadline. Those who have been rejected will have their applications reviewed," he said - pointing out that 10,000 applications were currently reviewed.

"In some cases, applicants did not submit some documents like tax clearance certificates which was not a prerequisite when the process started," he said.

He said that although Pretoria was moving at a high pace to issue permits, Harare was slow in processing passports.

"There are not enough officials helping in this process in Zimbabwe, people are standing in a queue of 5km on a daily basis and only two people are available to attend to them."

While worried Zimbabweans stood outside the collection points at the Harrison Street home affairs office, Tichaona Chipika was a happy man as he received his permit from minister Dlamini-Zuma.

"I felt honoured, I now can go home," he said his hands shaking as he signed a register that he had received his permit.

"I now can go home," he said closing his eyes in disbelief.

For Veliah Ndlovu, 51, receiving her permit meant she would be able to see her children before Christmas.

"I am happy for Dlamini-Zuma for what she has done for us. I am going to see my children after three years," she said with tears in her eyes.

Dlamini-Zuma said those who jumped the border illegally would be arrested.

"Zimbabweans like any other people from neighbouring countries could come to South Africa. What we do not want is illegal crossing," she said.

She said home affairs officials would not take a break during the festive holidays in a bid to enable Zimbabweans to submit their application before the cut off date.

According to home affairs records, 124,000 applications have been submitted and 1492 have been adjudicated.

In April last year Pretoria announced a moratorium on the deportation of Zimbabweans and granted them a special dispensation for one year so that they could get documents from Zimbabwean officials based in South Africa.

The dispensation was to allow them to normalise their stay in South Africa.