Unabridged Birth Certificate not issued

We are going on a Boat Cruise - leaving 11 January 2016. Me and the lady that is travelling with me in the cabin are both taking our kids that is under 18. We are travelling to Namibia and need an unabridged birth certificate. I app**** for my child's one in July and got it very quickly. She app**** in August and is still waiting. She followed up numerous times - got a case nr as well, as they will escalate it to head office. Still nothing came of it. We cannot get our tickets if we cannot supply all the information to MSC. I spoke to MSC and they said they do accept a letter from Department of Home Affairs that indicate that you did apply, but they did not issue yet. I just spoke to the Department on the customer care nr and the lady informed me that they will only issue that letter 3 days before the trip. This will not work for us, as MSC will not issue our tickets before we can supply this letter.... Can you please advise what we should do and what the hold up is - we are sitting with our heads in our hair and really don't know what to do.