DOCUMENTS, BORDER PROCEDURES, ROAD SAFETY & POLICE

DOCUMENTS/ITEMS REQUIRED IN MOZAMBIQUE

- Original car registration papers. If registered in the name of a Company, then a letter from the Company authorising you to drive that car. If you cannot take originals, ensure you have the photocopies certified. It is a good idea to put all these documents in a flip file to prevent you rifling through them when they are requested.

- Valid drivers licence and passport.

- Insurance details on the vehicle.   Please note Mozambique requires a separate 3rd party insurance policy available from AA, Hollard, Global Alliance or at the Moz border.

- Certified copies of IDs & Passports (in case of loss or theft).

- Fire extinguisher (this is not a legal requirement for a small vehicle but it does stop the police harassment over this issue).

BORDER – RSA

Get your vehicle voucher and park

In the customs office first get the vehicle voucher stamped, along with the SARS voucher listing anything over R10,000 value – laptops, etc.

Get the passport and vehicle voucher stamped at the next counter

Hand in car voucher at the exit and continue to the Mozambique border

BORDER - MOZAMBIQUE

Get vehicle voucher and park

You will be hassled by the locals claiming to be officials. Politely tell them to leave – do not trust anyone, they are simply trying to extort money from you

Get passport and vehicle voucher stamped in the office

Get a vehicle form and complete it – insist on an English form, otherwise you will need to recruit a local to fill in the Portuguese form for you

Get the forms signed by a customs official

Proceed to the gate and hand in the vehicle voucher – retain all paperwork received along with the documents mentioned above.

ROAD SAFETY

All towns, villages and school areas have a 60kmph speed limit. You usually, not always, first get the 80 sign then the 60 sign shortly after it.  At the end of the town the 60 sign with a line through it means you can now travel at 120kmph, but if you are towing the max speed is 100kmph.

Speeding fines are as follows: exceeding speed up to - 20kmph is 1000mts, up to 40kmph is 2000mts, up to 60kmph is 4000mts, and over 60kmph is 8000mts - double the speed limit is possible jail time!

It is not advisable to drive at night in Mozambique as there are vehicles without lights, trucks broken down, animals etc. Traffic congestion in Maputo is heavy so take a deep breath and try to relax as it can be frustrating.

POLICE

The police on the roads check driver papers, drivers licenses etc. Unfortunately there are some rogue police who are harassing tourists.  The best way to deal with them is to remain calm and first ask for their badge number or ID and then ask what you did wrong and if valid pay the fine and insist on the paper receipt.  This way you will pay the "real" amount and not the "fake" amount. If you really feel you are not in the wrong and feel up to the challenge ask the police to lead you to the nearest police station and deal with the situation there. Let your resort destination take copies of your fines so that they can follow up any wrong doings. Download and print the road rules and fines file above.

PLEASE DO NOT INITIATE A BRIBE - IT FEEDS THE HARASSMENT!

Please be aware that you are not allowed to take photos of road blocks and of any official building or state residence. You can be fined and the camera / video camera can be confiscated.