On return from SA I managed to gain grandfather rights on the old national Irish system, Still had to pass the 14 ATPL's here , As the hrs required were somewhat less than the JAR requirments, (ME-IR was to flight test standard's only ) I did save a bit . It did overall still cost me an arm and a leg on top of my SA CPL-ME/IR.
Capt if you do not hold a European Passport I would question your decision to work towards a JAR License. I am pretty sure that a SA CPL will be accepted in your country because as far as I know you will not gain any special credits for holding JAR license down there.