Mozambique: Crossing the border

Before you get to the border…
Just after Komatipoort, before the border on the South African side, there’s a BP service station. Pull in here and do the following:

1 Fill up. This is the last time you can get petrol using your card. In Mozambique you’ll have to pay in cash.
2 Exchange money. Change rands to meticals at the FX Africa Bureau de Change ( 013 793 7457) next to the convenience store on the forecourt.
3 Buy insurance. If you’re going to be driving in Mozambique it’s compulsory to buy third-party insurance. You can do it at the border but it’s easier to get it at the kiosk inside the bureau de change. It costs R150 per car and an extra R80 if you’re towing a trailer. You’ll be given a form. Keep it safe, as border officials and traffic police will ask you to produce it.
4 Check your paperwork. Get all your documents together.
Make sure you have:
•Passport
•Driver’s licence
•Car registration papers (plus papers for trailer, caravan or boat), or certified copies of the original registration papers and a letter from the owner.
•Third-party insurance form
•A pen. You won’t find one easily at the border!

At the border…

On the South African side:
1 Collect your gate pass and park. Decline any offers from touts who will try to help.
2 At the customs desk, fill in a form and declare any expensive goods like kayaks, fridges, outboard motors etc. The Mozambican authorities will stamp this form on your way in and you must be able to show these goods upon your return to SA.
3 Go to the vehicle registration desk and produce all the papers for your car. Complete the DA341 form and have it stamped, with your gate pass.
4 At the immigration desk, show your gate pass and get your passport stamped.
5 Return to your car, hand your gate pass to the official and drive to the Mozambican side.

On the Mozambican side:
1 Get another gate pass and park.
2 Report to the immigration desk with your passport and R17,50 cash per person (a fee levied for processing passports). Ask for a receipt. Complete the immigration form and get your passport stamped.
3 Go to the vehicle registration desk and present the DA341 form, the car papers and insurance form. Your gate pass and the DA341 will be stamped. You might also be charged R10 for a Temporary Import Permit for the goods in your vehicle. If you don’t receive a copy of the permit, ask for one.
4 Return to your car and ask one of the roving officials to inspect it and sign your gate pass.
5 Jump in your car and hand your gate pass to the official. You’re through!

Border times

Lebombo/Ressano Garcia (SA/Mozambique): 7 am-10 pm (sometimes open 24 hours a day during peak periods over Easter and Christmas)
• Namaacha/Lomaacha (Swaziland/Mozambique): 6 am-8 pm
• Kosi Bay/Ponta do Ouro (SA/Mozambique): 6.30 am-5.30 pm
• Pafuri (SA/Mozambique): 6 am-5.30 pm
• Giriyondo (SA/Mozambique): 8 am-4 pm in summer and 8 am-3 pm in winter.

Other articles on Mozambique:
On the road
Mozambique: Shopping and markets

Published 1 June 2010

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