south africa detention

Still whining Phil?
See this thread:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1660149

"Even when I showed them a page that had space."
Aren't you supposed to have two pages for South Africa?

"the refusal to allow contact with my embassy was illegal."
Who says?

"As far as I can tell there is no standard protocol"
That may be why you shouldn't assume anything and find out what the requirements are when you intend to go to a different country.
You've been to 7.7% of the countries in the world, I suggest you now learn something instead of complaining. You may find it useful in the future.

Trying for sympathy again Phil? I still don't think you're going to find it here.

The quantity of countries visited doesnt qualify you as well travelled. Its what you learn along the way. Such as the purpose of a passport, the one thing that identifies you.

Oh and sorry to be a sharp little needle in your behind, but my first google search of 'entry into countries passport pages' gave me this nice little link from the good old USofA Department of State. I am assuming it applies for worldwide citizens, not just those in US. Regardless, your government will likely have written something similar.
[http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1765.html]
You should print it out and hey presto, you'll have a book about it!

And that web site says for SA -

"We recommend that the passports of all travelers to South Africa contain at least two completely blank (unstamped) visa pages each time entry is sought. These pages are in addition to the endorsement/amendment pages (as many as four) at the back of the passport. While South African statutes require only one completely blank visa page, this rule has been applied inconsistently by South African immigration officials. In addition, any trip to a neighbouring country would necessitate another blank page upon return. Travellers lacking adequate blank pages in the passport may be refused entry into South Africa, fined, and returned to their point of origin at the traveller’s expense. South African authorities have denied diplomatic missions access to assist in these cases."

...so you are actually lucky that you were not fined and returned to Madagascar at your expense.

If its a US passport, you can mail it to Philly and they'll add extra pages and ship it back free. Takes about 2 weeks. This blank visa page thing happened to a buddy of mine 2 years ago as he boarded a flight at JFK. They (?) said he could get into SA but might not get out! He had to rush order the ammendment pages at a cost of about $300 and lost 3 days of the trip. So, it could have been worse . Some countries' (Zimbabwe Mozambique) entry visas take up a whole page, so thet can eat a lot of space in your passport. Sometimes mistakes are the best way to learn!

The embassy stated that to hold someone without contact with their embassy was illegal.

Also, the post was intended to show that there is a wide range of possibilities for stamping
a passport.

As a side note, while entering Uganda, I was informed that they could only issue a 30 visa, and
I laughed and said, that you are immigration and you can do what you want.

He ask, how do you know that?

He gave a 90 day visa.

Go figure.

"The embassy stated that to hold someone without contact with their embassy was illegal."

Illegal in which country? According to the laws of which land?
Is this the law in Iraq? Somalia? Eritrea? Vatican City? Guinea Bissau?