Painless Passports (update)

So determined was I to avoid going to Home Affairs that I made my life a bit of a misery. I spent hours online, starting 30th October. Later on I went to the FNB bank Cornubia branch that purports to do passports; they said Go Away, Go And Book Online. Eventually my  current passport’s expiry date dribbled by. Then finally, as a last resort, I went to Home Affairs in Richards Bay without an appointment at 10am on Monday.

Fifteen minutes later I emerged with the promise that I’d have my new passport in two weeks. These fifteen minutes included a walk out of the building and across the road to a trailer doing photocopies of ID cards for Five Seffrican Ront – R5.

Bloody yell. Last night an sms and an email confirmed I had indeed been there in the flesh and I had done all the right things, fine thumbprints and handsome mugshot included.

What a ninny. Next time I’ll be a man and sommer do it the normal way from the outset.

~~oo0oo~~

UPDATE: Today Monday, forty nine minutes short of one week after my visit, I received this sms:

Later, I picked up my passport in about five minutes – there was one person ahead of me being helped when I got to Collections; the photo is indeed that of an elderly gentleman looking concerned, but that’s not their fault. I salute the people at Home Affairs and I apologise for my pessimism! I’m usually the one saying, ‘Ah, It’s not so bad.’

Next, I asked my very own ‘Relationship Manager’ how I could get small denomination US dollars. She said what she always says: Go On The App. Well, *click *click and a large sum of Rands was removed from my account, with the promise to courier a tiny amount of greenbacks to my door. I’m waiting . .