Department of ‘Horror Affairs’

Jeffrey Burrows, Milnerton

Good one about the Home Affairs nightmares (“Nightmares thanks to Home Affairs”, Tabletalk, June 20). After struggling with them for years we have now stopped going to any of their offices in the city, instead going up the West Coast or into the Boland where they have offices to get ID cards or passport renewals or whatever, and we never have to wait even two weeks for these to be supplied. Service is always quick, efficient and with a smile.

As for the unabridged racket, it is just that. When our abridged was not accepted by Global Visa last year, HA said the unabridged would take six weeks.

So I Googled and got a company that promised it within three days. This became four days because “HA computers were off”, so whoever is behind these companies probably works at HA and the six-week story is just so that they can charge R3 000 extra.

But this is nothing -when I was overseas two Decembers ago my wife and daughter wanted to fly to her brother in Durban for Christmas.

When they wanted to go into the departure hall at Cape Town airport they were asked for the unabridged birth certificate.

My wife had to take an Uber home and get their passports and other paperwork and only then were they allowed to take a later flight.

Can you imagine asking for the unabridged for a domestic flight?