Consulate General-South Africa

Never there during business hours. Don’t answer the phone. Don’t return emails. The fax line is no longer operational. We’ve stopped by multiple times during listed business hours and no one is there. The building manager says he hasn’t see anyone in a while and they’ve left no word with him and he has no idea what to tell people. They are holding our renewed passports and we can’t get them now for months.i mailed a letter and never heard back. Apparently they just don’t ...exist anymore?? Without even a note on the door.

COVID UPDATEnIf your emails and phone calls have gone unanswered (under normal circumstances, I would not be surprised) but because of Covid, the consulate has “left the office.” My husband and I went to try and speak to a person at the consulate for visa purposes, and guess what?! THEIR OFFICE IS AND HAS BEEN CLOSED!! A staff member only comes in once a week to collect mail. I was so desperate I called ALL the consulates in the US (New York, Chicago & Washington DC). Only Washington DC has responded to me and I have been emailing her questions and she is kind enough to reply. Hopefully there can be some progress made here.n———————nFirst review written in 2017nIf you only attempt to call the consulate, you will have a frustrating and negative experience because they hardly seem to answer their phones. BUT if you go in person, you will have a completely different experience. My husband had to apply for a new passport because his had expired, and after we submitted his application, we did not hear a word back for months. We were getting nervous as our departure date to South Africa was quickly approaching. I suggested that my husband go to the consulate to speak to someone in person. Once there, a Mr. Abbey Makena assisted him; he was so helpful that my husband called him an angel--a direct answer to his prayers! Coincidentally, he already had my husband's documents in his hands (Mr. Makena and I had been emailing back and forth, and he happened to be looking over my husband's documents when my husband went to the consulate). Mr. Makena was able to issue an emergency travel certificate, and it looks like our trip will continue as planned!!nnSummary: GO TO THE CONSULATE IN PERSON--do not depend and hope for someone to pick up your phone call.

I’ve been calling them, emailing with no reply, and even went there 3 times in person to see if they were open. But they are still closed! This is ridiculous that they’ve been closed since March. Especially when you have other businesses social distancing and requiring masks. They could easily do that too. No excuse for being closed this long.

I came to the consulate today only to find out that it’s been closed since March. They don’t answer the calls and the voicemail message just says the opening hours and doesn’t say that they are closed. Sent an email about 2 months ago still waiting for a reply. Website doesn’t say that they are closed either.

The worst communications office I have ever come across. Don't waste your time with this consulate.