Build a trustworthy situation with the basic knowledge at hand
Having the basic knowledge of the procedure makes you aware of the whole process. You, then have the knowledge that what effort and time is required to have this difficult job done by the shippers and do not question the delay, if hapened. Vehicles are mostly transported through sea cargo freight, as African states rely mostly on sea for its imports and exports.
The know how of the underlying procedure for vehicle transport to African Countries from UK is important, not only to know the system is good so that you don’t face any uncertain situation but also for a better relation with the freight forwarder. There is an expensive thing you are going to export and having it under special care is an ideal situation which can only be achieved by trusting the way they will work.
Other documents needed:
Apart from these two, there are other documents that are needed to import vehicles into South Africa. Photo copy of the passport, a copy of the vehicle’s license document (the V5) is also needed and a valid MOT certificate may also be required. Along with these, there are shipping documents as bill of landing which is issued at the time of departure from UK, which is an evidence of export of the automobile from its territory.
The letter of authority and import permit that is arranged in most of the cases by the freight forwarder, if it does not get issued at time or before the vehicle reaches the port, it gets refused to enter the territory.
Duty and Tax:
There is a difference over here, also in case of duty and tax applicable to be paid on the car while sending any Cargo to Africa from UK. If the person importing the car is going to be a permanent immigrant or a returning citizen who is going to be permanently shifting, can import one vehicle which will be exempt of duty. But if the importer does not fit in the required fields then the duty is calculated according to the age of the vehicle. The VAT rate is 14% as set as a standard by the authorities, but this is just for the vehicles; for other goods the rate is different.
This detail is just for the custom clearance process and is not a full version, as it is difficult to jolt down the whole paper here. For the vehicle to be categorized as fit, there is another process which the owner has to go through to prove the car or any other vehicle type to be fit to run on South African roads.
Paper work required:
As any other country, there are some necessary papers that are needed and have to be completed for the whole procedure to pass through the cargo custom procedure smoothly. Otherwise, you will get into trouble for delay in the shipment and delay in reaching the final destination.
Letter of Authority: Letter of authority is to be acquired from the South African authority to have the vehicle enter its limits. Without this document, it is impossible to have your vehicle cleared from customs.
Import Permit: Another vital document is import permit. This is also an important document to have your vehicle through the port into the country and finally the destination. There is difference in the documentation asked by the authorities for new immigrants and returning South African residents.
