When perusing the many online groups for communities of South Africans abroad, it soon becomes clear that the one single biggest problem for SA Expats (SAFFAs), or just those visiting or travelling abroad, is getting Documentation or Identification from SA Embassies (DIRCO) or even Home Affairs back home! In many cases this documentation is vital in order to travel or remain legally abroad. Yes, we all know, and joke, that South Africa is now a barely functioning failed state, but to be told in an official communication by an SA Embassy, that you would have to wait up to THREE YEARS for a birth certificate, is, to put it bluntly, criminal! The Embassy even went so far as to recommend asking family back home to do it for you! Remind us again why we have a “government” and pay taxes?
It is hard enough, if not near impossible nowadays, to get out of SA, but most SAFFAs abroad have also come across their fair share of road blocks and frustrations, when dealing with ad