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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday July 13, 2007 - 13 Stranded in South Africa By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF An Oakville woman is thankful to be back in Canada after diplomatic red tape practically held her hostage in South Africa. Moira Coletta, a native of Cape Town, began her ordeal in early June when she received a phone call from family in South Africa informing her that her mother was gravely ill following a stroke. Coletta immediately resolved to make the long trip, however getting there presented certain complications. Despite being a 29-year resident of Canada, Coletta had never taken out a Canadian passport due to feelings of loyalty for South Africa. "I was going to get a Canadian passport on June 27 when I was sworn in," she said referring to her upcoming citizenship ceremony. Coletta feared she could not wait that long, but her options were limited. Although she was in possession of a South African passport, it was in the process of being renewed. "I went to the South African embassy and I said to them, `I know it takes eight months to renew, but I need to go now," she said. The embassy officials accommodated Coletta's urgent situation with a temporary South African passport. "I did the fingerprints, paid the money, got a temporary passport and I was gone within two or three days," she said. Over the next few days Coletta made the long flight over the Atlantic Ocean, across Europe and finally to Cape Town, South Africa where she visited her mother and family. As hard as the reunion was given the circumstances; the situation got a lot worse when Coletta said her tearful goodbyes and prepared to return to Canada. "On June 25, I was going to come back here because I wanted to be sworn in on the 27th, and I got to the airport, said goodbye, crying, all packed up. I waited in the line for an hour and a half. I get to the desk and they say, `'This passport is unacceptable,'" said Coletta. Despite her frustration, Coletta called her sister and returned to the family home where she called a travel agent and rebooked her return trip to Canada, this time via the same route she had used to come into South Africa. Again, Coletta said goodbye to her family and again the clerk manning the desk at the South African airport refused to permit Coletta to leave South Africa for Europe because of her temporary South African passport. "I went bananas," said Coletta. "We had gotten up at three in the morning to make the 7 a.m. flight." Coletta began phoning anyone she thought could help. In doing so, she discovered South Africa was in the process of phasing out temporary passports due to the fact that many countries no longer accept them for security reasons. "They're phasing them out, so why don't they stop issuing them then," said Coletta, who is angry with the South African consulate in Toronto, which she says did not tell her she could travel to South Africa on a temporary passport, but not return. DAVID LEA / OAKVILLE BEAVER NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Moira Coletta holds her South African passport, a passport she intends to burn after diplomatic red tape stranded her in Cape Town causing her to miss her citizenship ceremony, along with an article about her ordeal that was published in a South African newspaper. See Woman page 17 Everyone Loves Marineland Simply call the office to become a new Pre-paid Reader & receive your 2 free passes to Marineland Oakville Beaver $72/year - 905-845-9742 SAVE UP TO $18 $ OFF ADMISSION 3 MARINELAND Limit six guests per coupon. Not valid with any other offers. Present coupon before bill is totalled. Redeemable only at time of ticket purchase. Coupon has no cash value. Offer expires October 7, 2007 Ad ______ Ch ______ AUC 07 POST