bosvBK always thought “citizen” is a newspaper in Josie for the dark side – which reminds me of the time when I was on a plane and the new South Africa flight attendant asked me whether I want the “white pepper or de black pepper”, so I told him to bring me the Transvaler, cause I don’t read the Citizen. But recently BK got a letter from the NZ “goewerment” saying “Congratulations! The minister of internal affairs has approved your application for citizenship.” So I figured it must mean that I can now become a “landsburger” of this country. And just in time too, because my old South African passport is about to expire.

Some people have asked BK what happens when you get your Australian or New Zealand citizenship, BK being knowledgeable about the affairs of state, so to speak. So here’s what I’ve found out so far: you can have your new passport and let the old SA one expire, which means you become a citizen of the new country. Or you can renew your old passport, and apply for “dual citizenship”, meaning you have both. Why you would want to do this, BK does not know. But here is where it gets tricky – when you visit the old country and your old SA passport has not expired yet, and you are not a “dual citizen”, you must enter on your old SA passport, or get a fine for R20 000 (which is only about $200?). So BK thinks it is better to keep the old passport until it expires, but it’s not necessary to apply for a new one – it takes a year and costs a lot of money and effort. They ask you all kinds of questions about where your parents are, when you’re coming back to South Africa and such-like. So better to avoid having to go through all that just so you can have two passports?

But of course everybody’s different in what they want – some might call BK a “verraaier”, some might still hang on to the hope of someday returning to a *NEW!* and *IMPROVED!* South Africa – each to his (or her) own. Let’s just say regardless of what papers you have in your hand, home is where the heart is!

Bosveldgroete!

PS: Good luck trying to visit SA on a foreign passport when your old SA one has expired! You try to explain that to the squeeza sitting at the customs desk!