To Yaatri and CapetownZA:

Not saying NEVER to go to SA; this is only one point on your decision matrix. The main problem is that it reflects an overbearing concept of government. Some parts of the bureaucracy make their own rules and there is minimal accountability.

By the way, my own country, Brazil, also has lots of "idiosyncrasies", just not this one. And the US, in the past a beacon of liberty (at least for us in less free countries), unfortunately changed its ways and is going down this road.

Yaatri: in SA (and in Brazil as well) there is widespread corruption in police; they tend to be a lot more "cordial" when dealing with foreigners (for fear of publicity) than with nationals; don't take your experience as the norm.