aagg: How people can fly to London and the USA in that aircraft is just mind boggling!!
As far as I can see, SAA seat pitch in Y is 31", same as BA and possibly more than VS. And the same as airlines like QF although they fly elsewhere from South Africa.
Most of the discomfort that people feel is psychological, not physical. If you do it enough, you learn how to make use of the space you have. I get buckets of sleep between Sydney and London in such seats.