What to take
 

Planning a return to SA in about 18 months and I really fancy the idea of an MT350 .
Basic , strong , easy to work on and very low on the bling scale .
I will be solo and have decided on soft luggage and to only take what I really need .
Having done SA 10 years ago I know a plodder is all I need .
So should I stick with this idea or something completely different .
I don’t have the budget for anything flash but I do want to take my own bike prepped for me .
I had an XT600E for my last trip and although a great bike I found it a little
heavy .
I would like to spend about £1500 on a bike and about another £3-500 getting it up together for the trip .
So guys what’s your advice .

A local bike you buy in South America, that is sold in SA, and has parts available in most any location; XRE300 - fuel injection, Honda Tornado - carburetor, or consider the XR190CT- fuel injection, 21 inch front wheel, light and nimble, good price. Once you get there and are traveling, whatever bike you are riding will be fine. It just needs to be reliable.

Sorry - Old, and no parts in all of South America for it. I wouldn't even consider it unless I was trying to make a point about the bike because I was seriously in love with it...
LD Hack is right on - local bike, cheap, easily fixed - and easy to sell when you leave! You'd have to give the MT350 away - not legal - or ship it home - not worth it.
Remember, depending on where you're shipping from / to - it could easily be US$1500 each way. I get you want your own bike - but you did mention a budget. For that roughly $3000 you could spend a week or two somewhere holed up in a motel around the corner form a shop, buy what you need and tweak the bike to suit, and have a bucket of money left over.
There's loads of threads here on bikes for SA, have a browse around.

Hope that makes sense, and welcome back to HU!

I wouldn't have thought there was much in it weight wise between an XT600 and the MT. Both of them are roughly 160kg (give or take) unladen or 200 ready to roll. So you might end up with the MT feeling both heavy and underpowered. I'm not sure about the cycle parts on the MT but the Rotax engine is not that easy to work on if anything goes wrong. It's ok for service stuff but beyond that it's a mile away from std Japanese practice. I know because I have one in bits in my 'workshop' at the moment. It's almost impossible to get parts for it here so what it would be like in South America I dread to think. I know it's commonly said you can travel on just about anything and that's probably true for the MT but there are better options out there.