We all dread having to deal with Home Affairs — replacing an Identity Document or renewing a passport is seen as a schlepp.
But I had to do it, so I got there this morning at 07:41 (wanted to be there at 07:30 when they open, but traffic), got ticket #26.
Yes, they have a system where you get a ticket, which is logged on the system, and then they call you to the correct desk. Which means that one desk can be serving number 6, the other desk number 36, while you, number 26, are sitting reading your kindle (Shiver on the Sky, BTW, and I think it jumped the shark halfway through so I stopped reading it).
It also means that the fellow you need to see deals with number 6, 11, 24 and then 26, because all the other numbers are waiting in a different virtual queue.
I was out there by 08:30. Impressive.
I shall have to stop calling them “Infernal Affairs” now.
(My new drivers’ licence application at Fish Hoek traffic department was equally painless)