Good day

Apologies for contacting you directly but I really do not know where to turn to next or how to resolve the issue and hoping that you can assist. I actually went through all the names on the People's assembly website, looking at what meetings they attend, to see who would be in a position to give assistance.

Background to my problem:
I had to start work outside of the country since I could not find work in South Africa (West Africa since 2016 and UK since Dec). This means being away from my family and my 15 year old daughter. I applied for a passport and unabridged birth certificate on the 25th of October 2019, got the passport real quick but have had no response on the unabridged birth certificate.

I urgently need the unabridged certificate as I want my daughter to come and visit in the coming school holiday (Mar). I have not seen her since 30 December when I had to leave for work and the plan was that she would come over for every full school holiday. I do not have enough leave to lose the travel days if I travel back to South Africa and If I cannot get the certificate in the next couple of week this means I wont be able to see her until June (or see her only 4 days) when the next school holidays are. This is really not good or healthy and should not be the case as it is already 3 months since I applied. I tried calling Home affairs from the UK (the website number as well as the Stellenbosch branch where I applied) and also have my mother calling in South Africa but the phones are not being answered and we cannot make any headway.

The Government website still mentions max 8 weeks however when I started researching there were horror stories of people waiting in excess of a year! I know there is a backup of getting a document that says we have applied but if Nobody answers the phone I cannot arrange for this and as I am sitting in the UK I cannot drive there. I even visited the SA embassy in London to inquire and they could not assist since I applied in SA.

It is also worrieng that many people now mention going through 3rd parties for a fee R1500 - +R2000 and that they make it happen and you get your certificate in a week or two. This seems completely wrong when we pay twice (through taxes but also when you apply) and why can a passport be done in 2 weeks but an unabridged takes ages? It also nags on me as it reminds me very much of the 3.5 years I spent in West Africa where government documents i.e. Work permits will be delayed indefinitely until you pay the "Facilitation" fees (read bribe). This seems to be blatantly the case since you literally do not seem to be able to get your unabridged birth/marriage certificates unless you go through these 3rd parties which, quoting one comment "I had my certificates within 2 weeks. I don't know how they do it, or who they know in Home Affairs...".

In short, please assist me or point me in a direction what to do next as I just need to get the unabridged birth certificate, or the letter saying my daughter can travel so that I can book the VISA appointment and the flight. There is not much time left and I am desperate. If the only option is to go through the 3rd parties then I will also do that, but it feels like paying bribes and I definitely do not want to be part of that.

Thank you very much in advance.

Martin de Beer