PN, I realize that the SAAF is short of skilled personnel but one of the primary reasons for my unwillingness to apply was because of my worry that my career in the SAAF would not be fulfilling in terms of flight hours received, and professionalism as a whole would not be as high as that of the RAF due to this lack of skill. If the RAF was based in South Africa I would have signed up to it in no time flat.
Caz, I am not worried about the number of years that it will take to get me fully trained as a military pilot and I'm happy that the RAF makes its pilots take into consideration the hard work that everyone puts in to keep their aircraft running and to allow their way of life to continue. I spent the last 3 years of my university career working on subjects that I had no real interest in, in order to have a competitive CV for the RAF to take a look at, and obtained a BSc in Mathematics with distinction and Geography with an upper second, whilst I could have just as easily spent each night out with my friends drinking my nights away and having a good time. I only got those results because I focused on what I wanted to do with my life. Hindsight is 20/20 and I damn well wish that I had chosen to study in the UK from the get go as it would have made this avoidable issue disappear. I'm being a bit of a whining retard so I'll stop myself and get on with trying to contact the RAF. If they give me a chance though I'll sign on the dotted line faster than they can say "sign on the dotted line".
Cheers.