jsnydcsa

Listen, I'm the first one to note what's wrong or could potentially go wrong with SA or just about any other "process" anywhere in the world. Indeed, see, e.g.,
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/afric...gulations.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/afric...rrival-sa.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/afric...le-flying.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/afric...city-city.html

And, I've had more than my What the Flip moments at all stages of dealing with SA bureaucracy - both travel and non-travel related, government or private, etc., etc. I have no juice, just persistence, patience (though admittedly seriously strained to a point of breaking, no... shattering) and a sadly-Type A attention to detail that almost overwhelms the person on the other side of these situations such that the just relent.

I'll recount one example somewhat sanitized b/c of this forum. I have a close family relation who's a dual citizen. Prior to Sept 11, s/he had legally entered on country #1's passport. Post-Sept 11, and while still legally in the US on country #1's passport, they applied for an extension of their stay, which the US granted. However, the US authorities recorded the granted extension under the identifiers on country #2's passport (same name and DOB, but different passport number, country, etc.). While she was still in the USA, the stay authorized on country #1's passport expired. Agents - like a three of them with guns and a full "file" on the relation - came to the apartment looking for Al Capone. According to the doorman of the building, they implied s/he was going to be leaving in bracelets. It was that time when they wanted to look like they were "doing something" to get people who were in this country illegally (and by extension, ready to strap themselves up with Plutonium or whatever - that's a joke) out of the USA. Thankfully, a family member living in the apartment - unaware of the seriousness of the situation - said to the agents. Umm, hey, s/he got an extension. Here's her passport (country #2's passport) and even let them make a copy on the home copy/fax machine of it and the relevant passport pages and the then-INS documents showing the extension. The agents left a business card and said thanks. Never heard from them again. A call to the immigration lawyer with a request to try and get the agents or INS to basically confirm "Yeah, our mistake, no worries, you're cool" was met by the lawyer with "good luck with that, it'll never happen, if they spent their time issuing such 'yeah, we messed up' letters, they'd never get anything else done." Sure enough, when they next tried to come into the USA after some foreign travel, s/he was flagged by US immigration upon arrival in NY for improper entry. S/he had allegedly overstayed the country #1 entry and been barred and nobody had ever recorded the country #1 overstay issue as "closed" or "unfounded" with a notation about the extension on country #2's passport. Expecting trouble s/he had originals and copies of everything, even the agent's business card. S/he calmly explained it to the desk officer in back after she was flagged by the agent upon entry. Took a while (maybe 2-3 hours) for everything to get sorted out and s/he was definitely detained and delayed. S/he was scared. S/he was upset (both tears and "anger") that this had happened at all and nobody had "fixed" it back whenever. She had absolutely no juice whatsoever and got no phone call or help from anyone. Did s/he come out of it with an article similar to the one on Daily Maverick? No. Rather, s/he came away with "See, I knew this was going to be a problem" I was prepared, I thought through what this byzantine process was going to be like in light of incompetence (not on the agents' part, frankly they probably just got the file based on a computerized assignment) in a system. But, it is what it is and s/he dealt with it. Hassled? You bet, missed her connection, her ride at the end of her trip was frantic when they couldn't reach her, missed a meeting, luggage pulled b/c she wasn't around and had to track it down.

I'll give you one more about "people of substance" similarly sanitized. A US friend married a South African and at some point in the immigration process, she had to go to the old consulate in downtown CPT for some sort of paperwork and an interview. Professionally dressed, full file of everything needed, requested, etc. Ready to go. Arrived early. So on and so forth. I's dotted, T's crossed, lower case j's dotted too. Should have been a breeze. Remember the old waiting room? Teenager slouches down next to her in shorts, t-shirt and flip flops in those old style schoolroom desk/chair combos. Pulls out crumpled long roll of thermal fax paper. Someone's faxed him the US application for whatever. Asks for a pen from her, asks her to help read some of the paperwork, didn't have the required US$ fee receipt and basically did an exchange with someone else changing ZAR for US$ right in the waiting room and going down to NedBank or wherever to do the deposit. Definitely just "winging it." Who got the nice treatment? Who was in and out in a breeze - the teen. The spouse - with the same interviewer as the kid had - run around, second guessing by the interviewer, needed more paperwork, squinty glances at the validity of certain paperwork. Had to go home to 'burbs to get more paperwork and come back the next day. Still a wait and a run around. She got it. But, it was a mess.

We don't know what went on with everything the woman and her kids originally cited in the article went through at every stage in the process. The one thing we do know is that they got in and indeed officials made exceptions and looked into the matter rather than the perceived intransigence and incompetence. Are people being stopped for stupid reasons, chastised for nothing more than a blurred ink stamp or just plain given the run around? You bet. I haven't been through JNB in June, but I'd be willing to bet that people are still moving through the system fairly well. The place hasn't closed the border. There was a time when everyone's luggage was supposedly being rummaged through at will and emptied of valuables with impunity at JNB. I'm not saying it's a perfect place. But, where is it? People have cited the byzantine regulations of other countries' systems for whatever reason's that country seems to care about. Sometimes, I think SA's problems pale in comparison to the bureaucratic nightmares of other countries'

Phew!