Life at the moment: An update about my Home Affairs saga | Migration Tales

Hello wonderful people

I know it has been a little while since I’ve written an update about my life and the progress of my move and my drama with home affairs so here is that post. The one where I tell you that things are still so confusing! lol, yup, by now you’re used to that aren’t you? Good news is that there has been some progress!

Okay, so we have been in Thailand for the last ten days which was TRULY incredible.

We went with my brother and had the nicest holiday possible. We spent a lot of time exploring, sight seeing and relaxing. The relaxing part was definitely the high light for me. The stress of this move was starting to take a serious toll on our family. Gerard and I were fighting over nothing and Oden was suddenly dealing with separation anxiety and crying every morning at school. Which isn’t normal for our brave little boy.

So we took the plunge and went on holiday.

While we were in Thailand, we got an email saying we needed to be at the Home Affairs office one morning. Of course this wasn’t possible as we were in Thailand – so our lawyer managed to arrange a different date. Basically, we landed in Cape Town after a 14 hour flight and went straight to the home affairs office in town for a “meeting” which supposedly was going to result in my passport.

Home Affairs drama

Unfortunately, that meeting didn’t happen because the person who the meeting was with was “in training and had been all week” so I for the life of me can’t understand why a meeting was even arranged with her. Coincidentally, this is the second meeting that has amounted to nothing with this woman. You may recall I had to take Home Affairs to COURT to get this ball rolling. I literally had to take the government to court to amend a mistake that THEY made in my passport – well, at this “meeting” I was told that my court order held no value there. Hello? What the hell is a court order for then if it doesn’t mean anyone needs to act on it? So I wasn’t prepared to take no for an answer.

I literally had a tantrum at this point. I shouted and performed and quoted lines from my court order which STATES that Home Affairs MUST produce my documents by the 15th May. It appears that was effective because shortly afterwards, we were headed to take passport photos and fingerprints and my application was marked as urgent.

Just as things were seeming too good to be true, the system went down and I was unable to pay for my application. I find it ridiculous that I need to pay for anything at all but I need this to happen so I was willing.

And somehow I get blamed?

I got an email via my lawyer the next morning basically blaming me for the hold up because “I didn’t pay blah blah blah” which is funny because I couldn’t fucking pay. I am really done with these assholes.

I’m supposed to get my passport either today or tomorrow latest so let’s see how that goes – I’m so exhausted by this fight but I’m also well aware of the privileged position I am in to begin with. Not everyone has the option to go to court. It’s costing me a fortune but at least I can do this. It’s pretty fucked up that the system is so useless in South Africa that people don’t have access to what’s basically their constitutional rights!

Anyway, assuming my passport arrives as it is supposed to, either today or tomorrow – we plan on leaving mid JUNE. FUCKING HELL that’s soon isn’t it?

SO much to do and basically only a month to do it in! Yikes! 

ps, I got a new tattoo!