Try putting in the number into Espacenet (http://gb.espacenet.com/search97cgi/...n/advanced.hts) in the following format ZAYYYYNNNNN (i.e. ZA200801177). If Espacenet locates a patent, go into the record and click FAMILY. This will show you all corresponding patents in other countries. Now if you click on a corresponding US / EU patent you should be able to view the related patent document. You can also put the ZA number in the same format as above into the IdeaNav Patent Search Tool (http://www.ideanav.co.za/searching/patent-search-tool/), which searches all main databases simultaneously.