“I hate my job. And it’s so cold and miserable here. I just want to come home!” I hear this pretty often when I chat to friends online.
“Well, why don’t you then?” I reply.
“Because it’s just three more years until I get my British passport.”
Sigh, the allure of a little burgundy book. It’s like Middle Earth, except instead of a gold ring you need a gold-embossed piece of paper to gain entry.
Before I get a barrage of angry comments, please note I’m not talking about those who have inherited European passports by dint of birth. Neither am I referring to those who went north for work experience and have found themselves quite happily living on a rainy island because they’re doing something they love.
No, I’m talking about those people who have decided it’s worth putting their life on hold for five years so they can secure a stamped get-out-of-jail-free card if South Africa “goes down the tubes” or “the way of Zimbabwe”.
What they don’t realise is that unless you have money there’s no such thing as an “escape route”. I know plenty of Zimbabweans who were able to leave their country for more stable pastures, but couldn’t afford to. The ones who did leave had family in New Zealand, America or Britain to support them.
Ironically, a few weeks ago I met a Brit who was looking for a job here in South Africa. He was realistic about the move, but had a sense of adventure, a desire to explore the world and try new things. He might also have mentioned the weather and the women.
But the saddest thing is not the number of master’s degree-holding (that our government paid for two-thirds of, but that’s another debate) 20-to-30-somethings working as personal assistants. No, the saddest thing is the failed romances. I’ve seen quite a few promising relationships that were sacrificed on the altar of visa exemption. “I love you, but it’s just two more years honey!”
The sheer silliness of it all irks me, but not as much as those who return home waving their hard-won little book and bemoaning the fact that they have not accomplished what they planned. Their friends have established careers and homes while they patiently waited away some of the best years of their life.
To compensate for this, they now point out at every opportunity how they don’t need a visa if they want to travel through France / Italy / Spain. “You’ll be joining us then?” I ask. “Oh no,” they reply, “I can’t afford it right now. And I need to find a job. I mean, I know I don’t have any experience in what I studied, but I do have a degree … ”
Passport sycophants aside, I do know some wonderful South Africans who are gaining valuable experience that they plan to bring home. In some cases, they gain even more.
One couple bought a small, semi-detached garden cottage in London. They erected a fence that “stole” a few metres of their neighbour’s lawn. According to British law, if the structure is not contested within six months they can keep that portion of the property.
Who would have thought South African land claims could take place in England? At least irony has no boundaries, even if passports do.
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25 Responses to “The new dompas: What would you do for an EU passport?”
The passport thing is irrelevant if you don’t want to travel that much. If you only go overseas on the occasional holiday, an SA passport is fine. Yes, it is a hassle getting the visas but hey, that’s life.
The problem is when you travel for work. I have colleagues who travel on SA passports. What a ballache. They get searched more often, their visas get denied (especially for the states). Everyone thinks they are economic refugees or some other bullshit! Plus everything takes so much longer for them. They can’t just travel at the drop of a hat. They need weeks of preparation and advanced warning etc.
But with all that said, to live on a crappy island for 5 years, to deny yourself access to love ones and your home, just for a passport, that is pretty tragic!
as someone who lost both dutch and french nationality due to refusal to do military service [i’m old enough for this to have been an issue], the events of the last few years in my life have taught me that this was a kak move on my part. that said, i probably would have stayed in senegal and not have tried to settle in south africa if i still had french nationality — more likely, i would have gone straight to brazil, if i had left senegal at all.
additional passports are extremely useful things to have. not only are they great for escape hatches, they are also good for being overstayer raps; for example, foreigners without work permits or permanent residence are only allowed 180 days out of a year in brazil. with two passports, you get 360 days, meaning you can go to buenos aires for a weekend every six months and be set for a year.
[not that i know anyone who has done this. nope. not at all.]
i will admit that i’ve had to the remaining passport that i hold in a d**k waving coup fourré moment. while in gambia on holiday, a british person of gambian extraction was being a complete piel to the waistaff at the hotel restaurant. i asked him what gave him the right to act like that. he whipped out his british passport and said, “this does.” so i took out mine and said, “i guess i win, then.”
The SA mind, especially the ones indoctrinated by apartheid’s educations system, seem to play mind games with themselves. These “passport sycophants” should understand that there is no get-out-of-jail-free card in life.
In SA, they still have it good since white-AA is still rife in our economy. In the face of a worldwide recession, little do they realize the stiff competition they will face overseas for jobs, houses, access to resources and suitable spouses - all this in miserable weather and pining for your friends and family in sunny SA
Start practicing your “Welcome Home”, since there is no place to run beyond the last bastion of colonialism - the Cape Colony run by Governor Zille.
Holding a Dutch (EU) Passport and permanent residency in SA, I still find the passport regime as currently functioning (or not) an insult to humanity and freedom of moving around the globe.
Under the guise of security and administration, countries have created barriers to entry to keep elements, they don’t want, out of their area.
All processes are based on discrimination of some sort.
I’m an Australian but use my visa in my SA passport when I work in the US - very very very often and have no hassles at all. US loves SA and Australia - can’t lose
I work and live in Germany and travel extensively for business. I now have to travel to the UK BUT I now need a visa. 160€ to go to Berlin by train, 80€ application, 30€ sundries and 1 days travel. In march I get my Italian passport and absolutely cant wait. Vowed to wear a euro flag shirt to work…
I’ve lived for 33 years in South Africa, and I would like the opportunity to live elsewhere - but my SA passport makes that very difficult. Wanting to go (and live) overseas is something I feel I should be allowed to do. Ignoring crime/politics/etc, SA just doesn’t fulfill all my needs/desires! It doesn’t mean I hate my country or want to abandon it, I just want to experience other things. And I actually prefer rain to sun thankyouverymuch.
I have been in the UK for over 10 years and now have dual nationality. I have stayed here for all these years not for the passport but because it’s such an inspiring place to live. The architecture, the fashions, the art scene, the music scene, the opportunity to travel around Europe. Simply incredible. I can’t stand the way my fellow South Africans (here and in SA) constantly comment on the weather and ‘mud island’ Wow! you guys need to get out more!
I love South Africa and yes, the weather over there is great but good weather is not everything. So many London-based South Africans live in South African enclaves, living their insular little lives, hanging out at the Bok Bar and buying Sunlight washing up liquid from the South African shops(why they do that is beyond me!). I even knew one woman who got her mom to send her clothes from Woolies because she couldn’t find suitable clothes here in London…Yes, the weather is dire this time of the year but it will soon warm up and there is always something new and exciting to discover. I go to a lot of art galleries and music concerts and I HARDLY EVER hear another South African accent! why?? They’re all at the Bok Bar moaning about this boring little island…go home, you’re obviously to closed minded for this place!
dave harris, I am an ANC supporter and Voter but even the things you stand up for are just plain dumb. I also think that you must either be a very lonely person,or very skilled at getting out of your strait jacket every day to write your drivel.
If I may make a suggetion, drop this facade of standing up for everything that is pro ANC and try to find a comfortable and enlightened middle ground. for eg, if we didnt have an aids crises, JZ’s behaviour may have been excusable. but we do have an aids crisis and he is the face of SA. so he sets a bad example. Think about it, no..no.. relax..think a bit longer…relax relax…down boy…just think about it. unless thinking exhausts you..then rather leave it. Happy day to you, juliu..i mean “dave”
@ Justin Barrow…..be like me and take pleasure from the fact that all the contributions from Dave Harris expose him to be an unhappy man. The insults never fail to brighten my day
I dont really understand why saffas get so uptight about the passport situation. It is quite normal in all other countries for the youth to do the same thing. There are loads of canadians, brazilians, australians, indians, chinese, japanese etc etc trying to do the same thing in the UK. What attracts most people are the career chances, lifestyle and open creative attitudes. For me I like the fact I can have investments and savings, buy great sound equipment (or a house), travel the world, give to charity, see great bands and know that anywhere in the world the NHS will cover my costs and the embassy is always there to help….plus have a little change left over. This all at the age of 26 without a degree in SA would not be possible. In SA there are other advantages like the weather, surfing, friendly people, braais, boerewors and beats. I am really jealous of cape towns growing music scene, the stuff that has been coming out lately is off the hook! And young saffas are growing in confidence of their own identity.
The sheer silliness of it all irks you, does it, Amanda ? Take a look at this news item (shortened) from Knysna yesterday. Probably didn’t even make national news in SA : “KNYSNA policemen face an identity parade today after a 32-year- old Plettenberg Bay guesthouse owner was allegedly raped at the weekend after celebrating her birthday.
The woman was subjected to a two- hour ordeal in which she was forced to hide in the bushes and behind walls as her attackers hunted her down”
Perhaps ask the victim here if she’d be interested in an ‘escape route’. Anyone who still lives in SA and doesn’t have a contingency plan is seriously deluded. And criminally so, if they have dependants and children they are supposed to love and be responsible for.
I was born in Cape Town in ‘77 and applied for a skills based permanent residence visa to live in Australia. I emigrated blind to get out of SA, I’ve been here two years and do not regret it for a second.
I emigrated because I no longer felt welcome or safe and being an entirely cerebral (if not particularly bright) person, I was interested in nothing much in South Africa. It’s a good place for no-one but the most nakedly avaricious, cutthroat, shallow or out-and-out sociopathic people.
I’m a quite happy to be a nobody, and live a modest little life, as are most Australians. The South Africans who moan about the difficulties of achieving in first world countries are a pack of over-entitled, over-privileged, conceited swine with no desire to assimilate, and are often quite rightly disliked. Aasvoel hit the nail on the head.
You want it to be easier to get ahead? The bus I take in the morning is full of professional people who are still studying in their forties. University graduates are not special here.
My sunshine needs (not much, I prefer to remain my natural colour) are sorted, my healthcare is sorted, my security is sorted, my career is sorted and I’ll have citizenship in another two years. And if I feel like going to another country, it’ll be a lot cheaper and easier than from SA.
@ Ladyfingers….I do not believe you, for the simple reason that you can make mindless comments like…. “It’s a good place for no-one but the most nakedly avaricious, cutthroat, shallow or out-and-out sociopathic people”. This exposes you as a fool, even if the rest of what you say makes sense.
Does it? It doesn’t seem like a good place for my friend who got a breadknife inserted into his neck.
Or my friend’s father who was shot in the street for his wallet.
Or my friend who got a knife through the heart making a call in a telephone booth.
Or my friend who got raped.
Or me when “Proudly South African” entepreneurs stiffed me on payments that were less than an installment on their new BMWs.
Or my cousin whose spine was destroyed by a drill sergeant and is permanently supine because the state cheaped out on surgery.
Or the millions of people in shacks surrounding barbed-wire suburbs financed by overdrafts.
Or the victims of xenophobic pogroms.
Or women.
I’m not saying that it’s only the avaricious, cutthroat, shallow or sociopathic that inhabit the place, I’m saying they seem to have a tremendous advantage in dealing with it.
@ Ladyfingers and Paul S……whilst I am envious of your safe haven lifestyle, I have to wonder why you still visit South African forums. Is it some sort of validation issue?
I actually have an interest in SA because I have friends and relatives there, and I’m good friends with one of TL’s writers. I comment constructively most of the time, but there is a smug tone frequently taken against expats that makes us out to be a pack of cowardly traitors who left because of racism, all suffering dingy existences in mouldy little shoeboxes devoid of any “quality of life”, culture or nature.
It could not be further from the truth. Hell, last winter I was able to take a lovely, affordable weekend trip into the near-equatorial tropics (within the borders of the same country!), the kind of thing I could never afford in SA.
If Thought Leader is ostensibly a journalistic enterprise, I can’t let the kind of routine, cliché-ed besmirching of expats go uncommented upon. It’s lazy, smug and jingoistic in a way that does not reflect well on SA at all: “ha, your countries are boring dumps!”
I don’t understand where this whole idea emerged that living on a rainy island is crappy. If you’re good enough, “rainy” states in the Western world offer a plethora of opportunities and a quality of life that one could only dream of in other parts of the world.
The point is to claim your place in the world. If you’re living in the dregs of society, anywhere is shite (there’s more to life than working a job you hate or being a non-descript office automaton)…
one should rather focus on how good the “good” can be and really take advantage of things that you wouldn’t be afforded back home i.e. invaluable work experience, access to some of the worlds best/active/rigorous/competitive academic institutions, real integrated multicultural immersion & exchanges (not some half-assed political notion in the ether), the ability to travel to many culturally distinct countries affordably and within a close range, massive economies that can happily accomodate budding entrepreneurs.
Seriously- the fact that these countries are so candidly dismissed as “crappy” indicates one of two things:
1) Ignorance.. no knowledge of the contrary (a real shame in other words)
2) Ignorance.. even more of a shame.. actually offensive !
Remember; Losers whine… winners grab it by the nuts !
Let’s be real shall we !
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Amanda studied at Rhodes and nearly became a journalist but decided to sell her soul to the corporate whore instead. That's okay though, she loves advertising. When she's not keeping the world safe for sugar water and insurance companies, she likes to write deep and meaningful stuff. Her bribe of choice is single malt whiskey.
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