1) On 8 December 2023, the President of Mozambique, President Nyusi, informed all uniformed staff that he will not tolerate any complaints about harassment of any tourist or Mozambican national by any uniformed official. This was a very strong instruction and command which must be executed by all divisions of the Government.
2) From 13 to 25 December, NO ore carrying trucks will be allowed through the border.
3) To enter Mozambique, tourists and Mozambican nationals will be processed at 3 sites.
4) Most passenger vehicles will be processed at KM7 on the South African side. This is at the site of the old airport. Cars, taxi’s, etc will be diverted and taken into the area for processing. The site will be attended by South African and Mozambican staff. Passports will be stamped to certify the person going out of South Africa and into Mozambique at this One Stop Shop. Each vehicle will have to be issued with a TIP (Temporary Import Permit) at this point. Please ensure that you do receive your Import Permit as having it, is a legal requirement and if you do not have it, you WILL be fined. The TIP is issued free of charge and no payment may be requested for it. There will be no need for the person to stop on the Mozambican side after following this procedure exceptbto hand in a gate pass, described later.
5) After being cleared by passport control, all vehicles will be inspected by Customs officials at KM7. After their inspection, each vehicle will be issued with a dated sticker to display on the windscreen of the car. This ‘SAFE PASSAGE’ sticker will ensure that NO tourist will be stopped for routine inspections for 24 hours after passing through the border. The sticker is NOT a licence to break the Law and transgressions of the Law, such as speeding, will still result in being stopped and fined. The intent of issuing the sticker is to ensure safe passage for an adequate time to at least reach the main tourist destinations.
6) After receiving the sticker, the cars will be issued with a Gatepass to show on the Mozambican side and allowed to proceed through the South African and Mozambican borders, with only stopping to hand in the gate pass. We advise tourists not to stop in the town of Ressano Garcia as there will be a lot of border traffic flowing through the town, which might contain criminal elements. No ‘inspectors’ or ‘officials’ wearing reflective jackets and carrying tags around their necks are allowed to stop you, until you clear the town, going past the KM4 truck inspection area. The only stop will be inside the Mozambican border post and then it will only be to hand in the gate pass, certifying that your vehicle was already inspected at KM7.
7) All cars must have Compulsory Mozambican Third Party Insurance cover. This is not part of a vehicle’s South African all risks or third party insurance and must be issued by an authorised Mozambican broker. The cover is available online but if you haven’t taken it out before the trip, it will be available at JoMoz, 5.6 km from the borderpost. JoMoz is situated on the left, right next to the MERU filling station and there is adequate parking available. The insurance is also available at the SASOL Garage and at the Galp Garage, but both are inside the zone which tourists are advised not to stop in.
8) Returning mineworkers and other pedestrians will be processed at the Pedestrian Processing Center, up the hill, inside the South African customs area.
9) The normal border post will also be manned and will process passports as usual. The procedure, if you get directed to the ‘normal’ border post, will be the same as usual, except that you will be issued with a ‘Safe passage’ sticker to ensure you freedom from road harassment for 24 hours.
10) The ‘reverse’ procedure for returning to South Africa will be announced soon and will be similar in nature to the procedure described above. The reverse procedure will come into effect on 4 January 2024.
11) On 14 December, all roleplayers will meet again to give feedback on the success of the project. The feedback session will be organised by CTA and will include a media briefing.
Good luck, safe travels and a HUGE thank you to all involved (especially Rogerio Gomes) for getting the above concessions in place.
Johan Swart
JoMoz
