You won't need to...just apply for a British Passport prior to informing SA and getting permission and it will be done for you. Short story, prior to getting British passports here, I sent in forms sent to me by SA House. Then waited a week and applied for British passports. Heard a month later that the forms *they sent me" were now old and required a different version. Needless to say, as we had already sent in our British applications, we had not asked for permission *prior to*! And I have not bothered to go though the rigmarole of reapplying for SA Citizenship.
Haven't got to the end of this thread but can tell you with 18 years under my belt here that it is neither Paradise nor Nirvana HOWEVER, it is a hell of a lot better than SA. Has it declined since we first arrived? Yes, but it is by no means intolerable and indeed, show me one place that is perfect and it will be instantly ruined by immigration e masse from everyone who believes that the grass is always greener elsewhere.
Apart from the issues already highlighted, don't forget, in the UK, we pay our tax and things generally work (sometimes better, sometimes worse). However, in SA, you pay your official tax and then get hit with all the stealth taxes...private security contractors, private health care, private schooling. You have the constant, and I mean constant, overriding fear of being the victim of crime such that I was always in war mode...took me almost five years to relax in the UK although I still lock doors at night and when I drive and never sit with my back to a door in a public place. It doesn't leave you. I will still jump at loud bangs and "reach for my gun".
I am like a brand ambassador for the UK. I am always telling locals born here how fantastic the place it...by no means perfect but still a lovely place to live. The weather is not so bad as everyone makes out (certainly not in the SE of England). AT the end of the day, we have lovely green areas, open fields, lovely forests etc that would not exist if we had much less rain...you cannot have one without the other.
People can all complain as much as they want about the state of the NHS, public schooling, the price of housing, the cost of living etc etc. My suggestion would be to put your money where your mouth is and go live in USA, Australia, France, Italy, Spain, Germany etc and try it out and then decide if it is really that bad here. The UK is not perfect but as I mentioned, no where is... they just have a different set of problems. You decide what is most important to you.
I love this country and my children were brought up singing G-d Save the Queen every morning (all three verses!).
I flick a switch and the lights and oven turn on. I buy things on special at the supermarket knowing that my freezer will be able to freeze and store it. I go walking in the forest with the family not worried about being, mugged, stabbed or shot for my cell phone (mobile). I may think the politics is a shambles but at least you have a realistic chance of voting out the incumbents.
Now, you could argue that one can expect this in many other countries and you would be right. However, it may mean facing similar issues in the USA with the additional burden of a private healthcare system and higher levels of violent crime. Perhaps Australia? Well, apart from having to deals with Australians on a daily basis, they also have their own specific issues around weather, being at the ar*e end of the world and others (here we only have to deal with the Welsh)
All in all, saying we are better than SA can be correctly be interpreted as a low bar but for people coming from there, it is a big thing for a lot of reasons. However, I would argue, that for all our problems, it is still a lovely place to live and we should be a little more appreciative of how good we have it. Sometimes, you have to see things through the eyes of an "uitlander" (foreigner) to realise that perhaps you are a little jaded.
So, to Priapus, make your way over here. It will be infinitely better than your current situation (in Joey's?) and you will not regret it. You will have to make adjustments but overall, you will be a winner.
Good luck
