I finally made it!
Being at the mercy of government departments can test the most patient person, here in sunny SA at least. Not sure how it is in your country.
Anyhoo, I've had a couple of experiences recently that made me realize once again just how dependent we are on the power grid to keep everything running!
Many have heard of our awful load shedding; in other words, planned power outages.
Naturally, this is hitting our economy really hard, and has a massive ripple effect; one is unemployment which leads to an unabated crime rate, chasing many young talented people across the seas.
Despite backup power, a luxury we can't all afford, there's no getting away from loss of internet connectivity, as our mobile network towers often go down.
The reasons are two-fold - it takes 12 - 18 hours to recharge batteries, and with longer periods of load shedding there is not enough time to recharge.
Battery theft is the second culprit!
So, it's no wonder there are looooong queues outside government departments like those responsible for birth, followed by death, registrations, ID and passport documents, and so forth.
That's where I've been dreading going, as they're all in the most horrid areas, and more often than not, the network is down, so it means trips backward and forwards.
They now have an appointment system, and I managed to get my passport renewal done on the second attempt when the system was online; a smooth and well-organized process at the end of the day.
My passport was ready in just under two weeks, but we had to go twice. Hubby acts as my bodyguard at these places as it's not safe.
On our first attempt at collecting my passport, we learned that they give priority to those who are 70 and above. I cannot fib, get all tongue-tied, so when we got there this time, and the co-ordinator asked my age - yep I'm silver, and I actually welcomed the question, hubby piped up:
She's 70.
Go inside Gogo (meaning Granny), they will show you where to go.
I will be 7-Oh next month after all, so if you do the maths and round the numbers up, I already am THAT age, so didn't feel too guilty.
I could have won an Oscar for acting like a real old lady when I made my entrance into the most sought-after room in that building:):)
What a happy sight seeing those rows of chairs, and I was seated in one of them!
So, I'm now in the starting blocks for the next lap of my journey, hoping to get to Amsterdam in time for my 7th birthday, courtesy of my son and his lovely gal, who have both emigrated to the Netherlands and gave us dummy air tickets for Christmas.
I can't wait and although the real work only starts now, I'm sure the run will be much smoother!
P.S. I did give the staff at Prospecton Home Affairs a 5-star Google review, as they are efficient, polite, and very helpful, despite working under awful conditions!
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