Read on;
For those of you who do not read my blog on a regular basis (and why not I ask?), and for those of you who read and forget, like me, here is a quick reminder. Two months ago Rob and I girded our loins and headed off to Malmesbury to the Home Affairs Office to renew our Passports.
Thanks to the hundreds of people already queuing when we arrived, we abandoned the whole thing!
But, the expiry date was rapidly approaching so we realised that we would have to try again, and very possibly spend a few hours shuffling forwards until we had completed the chore. We were not looking forward to it at all, so we asked our friends in Malmesbury to keep an eye on the queues, as they drove by regularly on their way to the shops. Pam decided that the best time to arrive at the office was just before lunch. Then the morning queue had abated and the afternoon influx had not yet arrived!
Right, so we had some sort of time frame! We also needed to keep an eye on the temperatures, as Malmesbury can climb to the high 30's and I don't do high 30's. I am not keen on low 30's either, so we had to pick the right day.
Then my daughter came to stay with us for a few days and told us that it was much easier to fill out the forms on-line, pay our R400 via EFT and simply pop into the Home Affairs where it was a simple task to have photos, fingerprints and signature captured, et voila, job done.
So we looked at her with sheep-eyes and she tutted and shook her head (bless her heart), and proceeded to do the whole form filling thing for us!
And so, on Wednesday the 8 March, we set off! We arrived at Malmesbury at precisely 11.00. There was not a single person waiting outside the Home Affairs building, and we managed to find a parking space right outside the door!
All good omens! So we rushed to the building before anyone else could get there before us, and burst through the door! And there we stood looking at a room full of people all looking back at us! There was nobody on the Enquiries desk, so we stood nonchalantly trying to catch someone's eye. Eventually I was given number 82 and Rob was 83. We found seats and sat. The electronic information board and the mechanical voice told us that number 43 was to go to Booth 3. That meant there were 40 odd people in front of us! But these places have a system of their own, unknown to us lesser mortals, because suddenly our numbers were called to go to the photo booth, where minutes later our photos were taken, and our fingerprints and signatures were captured.
I thought, wow, easy, let's go........but no.
We had to wait until we were called to Booth 3, so that we could prove that we were who we said we were and sign again to verify!
And that happened 2 hours later! And people came, people went, babies cried, children became restless, old people coughed and yawned and we sat and enjoyed the air conditioning as the day 'hotted up' outside. I have to admit, the thought of needing the loo crossed my mind a few times!
By then we were chatting to the girl sitting next to us who had come to have her surname updated. She got married two years ago and needed her married surname to buy a car. But, when she was finally called to Booth 3, she discovered that the marriage had never been registered........ so she left, confused and angry at the waste of time. And slightly hysterical I think, as she was laughing as she went through the door.
There was a tiny baby there with her parents who had come to register her birth and do a few other things. They looked as though they were camping out. Bags, books, packets and bottles, they were there when we arrived and still there when we left! The husband went off to buy some take-away for lunch, and came back with a rather prickly looking plant in a pot as well! Then followed a very jolly time as they (and Rob) decided to name the plant and register it too seeing as they were in the right place! It was one of those 'you-had-to-be-there' moments, because the names were becoming more and more outrageous, but I think they had come to the end of their tethers and were just desperate to leave! Even the officials were joining in the fun.
And then it was our turn and we signed again, showed our ID books, and that was it! Two hours after we arrived, we left. Lunch with our friends followed and then we drove home.
And then...... on 15 March......just a week after we had completed our paperwork, we received a SMS from the Dept of Home Affairs, to say that our passports and new ID cards were ready for collection at Malmesbury office.
We shall collect them this week..............
Once we have recovered from the shock!
