Help! Urgent!

Hi guys. I’m posting this on behalf of my friend hoping to get some advice on the way forward.

My friend lives in South Africa and applied for a Turkish Tourist Visa mid July for a vacation booked to commence this coming Monday (17th). She’s a Zimbabwean with South African residence permit, is gainfully employed and has plenty of travel history. However, her Visa is still not out, despite the 4-8 week waiting period stated on the Turkish website. She has tried to email, call but is met with the same answer that they are still waiting for a decision. They have even suggested that she move her flight dates. This is tricky as the vacation involves my other friend and I, both living in the U.K.

I guess my question is if there’s anything we can do to escalate this issue? The entire process has been very frustrating and exhausting, and seeing as her flight leaves Durban at 7pm on Monday, she is left with very little room to adjust the plan. We just assumed the visa would be out before the maximum 8 weeks but there seems to be no news.

Help us please! Has anyone dealt with a similar issue, either with the Turkish Consulate or any other embassy?