Hey everyone,
This is a bit of a long shot but I am absolutely desperate.
I'm a South African living in London (and have been for 15 years). I've got dual nationality and applied for a new SA passport in July 2018. It still hadn't arrived by Dec and I'd bought a return flight out here to visit family in SA for xmas. I got an emergency passport from the SA House to come here as it's illegal to use your British passport to travel here if you have an SA one. SA House said they'd redirect my new passport for collection to my nearest Home Affairs in SA but they never authorised it and now my passport is being posted back to London leaving me completely stranded. I can't even use my UK passport to leave as it never got stamped coming in and they confiscated my emergency passport when I arrived.
Does anyone have any idea of how to contact the SA High Commission? I've called the numbers listed on their website 30-50 times during the 2 hours it's open and my call has never been answered. I've also emailed them daily and even got friends in London to post physical letters but heard nothing.
I've called the Presidential helpline here (they're 'escalating' it) and DA Assistance abroad (ditto). Does anyone have any suggestions at all or had any similar experiences?