Hi marryme,
My wife did her schooling in SA and unfortunatley as you say many employers here hadn't got a clue as to what a matric was. She managed to find someone who told her what it was the equivalent to in A levels. She used to be head chasher at investec bank in Jo burg but that seemed to mean diddly squat too and she had to work her way back up from a basic cashier. I think that was due to working with money though as she had to start off working at a Turf accoutants (yuk). We have some other friends over from SA who seemed to get a job fairly easily but they were in other areas of employment but had experience. I wish you luck as she felt really demoralised but we got through it. All the best.
jason