Home affairs insists an unabridged birth certificate is not needed for parents travelling with children, but apparently nobody told customs officials

The department of home affairs has reiterated that the requirement for an unabridged birth certificate for children travelling with their parents no longer applies, but the parents must still carry it anyway – in case customs officials ask to see it at ports of entry. This follows a huge outcry among travellers who claimed they were stopped at ports of entry by customs staff who demanded the unabridged certificate for their children, despite the announcement by the department it was no longer a requirement. The department of tourism recently said tourism supports about 1.5 million jobs directly and indirectly in SA. StatsSA figures for 2016 show the sector directly contributed 2.9% – or R125.1 billion – to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). When the initial requirements were first issued, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom took issue with the home affairs decision, saying the move would kill tourism in SA and impede economic growth. Home affairs was forced to back off. …
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Details of Irishman’s harrowing South African ordeal begin to emerge – Taking Lots of Cash to South Africa is a Bad Idea!

Stanley Currie, the 66-year-old Irishman who was reported missing in South Africa, has been found, disorientated and destitute, on the streets of Johannesburg. The search for Currie lasted ten days. Spearheaded on South African soil by the local Community Crime Watch organisation, and assisted by concerned family members back in Ireland, the extensive social media campaign aimed at locating Currie proved fruitful on 7 January. Looking for love on the wrong continent... Currie left Dublin on 28 December, bound for South Africa in search of a woman he’d been communicating with online for over two years. It’s this romance which proved to be Currie’s undoing. While it is not yet clear whether Currie made contact with the mystery woman, the Irishman’s brother Richard suspected that the meet up was all part of an elaborate scam, when first raising the alarm on Stanley’s disappearance. Richard explained: “On the 28th December Stanley boarded a flight to Johannesburg on a ‘one way’ …
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Weekend travel information for 14 December 2018

Here is our weekly travel update to help you get around London this weekend, 15 and 16 December, and the following week. Most of the network will be open with services running as normal so you’ll be able to get wherever you need to go, but please check if any of the following affect you. TfL services will continue to run over Christmas and New Year, excluding Christmas Day. On New Year’s Eve, travel will be free on the Tube, bus, London Overground, DLR, TfL Rail and Tram services between 23:45 and 04:30. Timetable and service changes will affect journeys throughout the festive period. London Underground Metropolitan line On Sunday 16 December, there will be no service between Aldgate and Wembley Park before 09:30 and after 20:30. This is due to track replacement work. For travel between Baker Street and Wembley Park, use the Jubilee line. For travel between Baker Street and Aldgate, use the Circle line or Hammersmith & City line. Piccadilly line On Satur…
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Weekend travel information for 7 December 2018

Here is our weekly travel update to help you get around London this weekend, 8 and 9 December, and the following week. Most of the network will be open with services running as normal so you’ll be able to get wherever you need to go, but please check if any of the following affect you. London Underground Metropolitan line On Sunday 9 December, there will be no service between Aldgate and Wembley Park before 09:30 and after 20:30. This is due to track replacement work. For travel between Baker Street and Wembley Park, use the Jubilee line. For travel between Baker Street and Aldgate, use the Circle line or Hammersmith & City line. London Overground On Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 December, there will be an amended timetable between Gospel Oak and Barking. Trains will run every 15 to 30 minutes. Due to a lack of available trains, a reduced weekend service will continue until further notice. We will continue to run a full timetable on the busier weekday service.…
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#LandExpropriation: South-African farmers are now leaving SA for Canada due to uncertainty created by the South African government’s move to expropriate land without compensation

Due to uncertainty created by the South African government's move to expropriate land without compensation, several South African farmers are migrating to settle in other countries, agricultural industry association Agri SA said on Wednesday. "This is extremely serious, and the knock-on effect on the whole economy is going to be there. If you don't have confidence [in an economy], why would you invest? Something else is also happening ... we are losing young farmers. They decide they cannot do this, they don't see a future to a certain extent," said Pierre Vercueil, Agri SA deputy president who is also a commercial farmer. "We see immigration [of farmers from South Africa]. You just have to go the embassies and ask what is happening. Over the last 20 years, we have seen the decrease in farmers' numbers from something like 60 000 to 35 000, and this is escalating. On Tuesday, Parliament by majority vote adopted a report recommending that Section 25 of the Constitution be amen…
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Weekend travel information for 23 November 2018

Here is our weekly travel update to help you get around London this weekend, 24 and 25 November, and the following week. Most of the network will be open with services running as normal so you’ll be able to get wherever you need to go, but please check if any of the following affect you. London Underground Metropolitan line On Sunday 25 November, there will be no service between Aldgate and Wembley Park before 09:30 and after 20:30. This is due to track replacement work. For travel between Baker Street and Wembley Park, use the Jubilee line. For travel between Baker Street and Aldgate, use the Circle line or Hammersmith & City line. London Overground From 20:00 tonight until tomorrow morning, Thursday 22 November, there will be no service between Romford and Upminster. Use local bus routes 165, 248 or 370 for travel between stations. On Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 November: • There will be no service between Hackney Wick and Stratford. From 16:15 on Su…
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Weekend travel information for 9 November 2018

Here is our weekly travel update to help you get around London this weekend, 10 and 11 November, and the following week. Most of the network will be open with services running as normal so you’ll be able to get wherever you need to go, but please check if any of the following affect you. Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers Until Sunday 11 November, large pedestrian numbers are expected at Tower of London each day between 17:00 and 22:00. Tower Hill station will be extremely busy during the event. Anyone attending the event might find it easier to use the following stations, which are all around a 10 to 15 minute walk away: • Aldgate East via the District line and Hammersmith & City line • Aldgate via the Metropolitan line and Circle line • Monument via the District line and Circle line • London Bridge via the Jubilee line, Northern line and National Rail lines • Tower Gateway via DLR London Underground There are no planned closure…
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Weekend travel information for 2 November 2018

Here is our weekly travel update to help you get around London this weekend, 3 and 4 November, and the following week. Most of the network will be open with services running as normal so you’ll be able to get wherever you need to go, but please check if any of the following affect you. Beyond the Deepening Shadow: The Tower Remembers From Sunday 4 until Sunday 11 November, large pedestrian numbers are expected at Tower of London each day between 17:00 and 22:00. Tower Hill station will be extremely busy during the event and will be closed on Sunday 4 November. Anyone attending the event should use the following stations, which are all around a 10 to 15 minute walk away: • Aldgate East via the District line and Hammersmith & City line • Aldgate via the Metropolitan line and Circle line • Monument via the District line and Circle line • London Bridge via the Jubilee line, Northern line and National Rail lines • Tower Gateway via DLR Central line …
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Weekend travel information for 26 October 2018

Here is our weekly travel update to help you get around London this weekend, 27 and 28 October, and the following week. Most of the network will be open with services running as normal so you’ll be able to get wherever you need to go, but please check if any of the following affect you. London Underground Metropolitan line On Sunday 28 October, there will be no service between Aldgate and Wembley Park before 09:30 and after 20:30. This is due to track replacement work. For travel between Baker Street and Wembley Park, use the Jubilee line. For travel between Baker Street and Aldgate, use the Circle line or Hammersmith & City line. London Overground Network Rail is carrying out work that will affect the following services. Today, Thursday 25 October, there will be no service between: • Romford and Upminster after 20:00. Use local bus routes 165, 248 or 370 for travel between stations • Hackney Downs and Chingford after 22:30. Rail replacement bus…
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Why Some British expatriates are struggling to get their passport renewals processed

Though the British government originally stated that the closure of regional passport processing centres around the world wouldn’t affect the processing of passport applications and renewals it seems that this is not the case. Passport renewals used to take around 4 weeks but with the move of processing back to Liverpool, England the recommended processing timescale was extended to 6 weeks. However reports are coming in from around the world with many expatriates being completely frustrated both by the lack of communication throughout the process and also the length of time that processing is taking. The online tracking system and call centres provided seem to not accurately reflect the status of applications being processed. Expatriates living in Hong Kong and Russia have reported that it’s now taking up to 3 months for them to get their passports renewed with apparently hundreds of expatriates affected in Hong Kong alone. This is forcing some expats to face issues with visa…
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