Well, I was concerned about my second boarding pass but I seriously underestimated the amount of problem I would have with that. I had 5 hours to sort it out and it took 4 hours and 50 minutes to get it done, and even then it only gone done thanks to Air Canada who agreed to let me fly even though at that point my ticket problem was not sorted out. They felt sure that they would be able to sort it out at the end of the day, long after the plane was gone. I am SO grateful for that.
.... Mostly it is a long boring story......
I just conclude from it that I will, from there on, avoid flying with South African Airways if I can... and usually I can, it just takes to fly though Frankfurt and fly with Lufthansa instead of flying through Heathrow.