Haven't operated on my SA ATPL since 1994 but have kept it current. Wife's just got back from SA and kindly spent a few hours at the CAA to renew my licence again - basically no problems, re-issued on the strength of a foreign ATPL and Class One medical with copies of all the supporting docs. That was the only hiccup - with all this fake-licences hoo-haa they wanted only original docs; which is obviously ridiculous - which thankfully the wife managed to point out - make sure you get some sort of certified true copies if you're going the same route.