xhenry

I did a decent trip around Southern Africa this Summer - 25th July - 30th August 2016.
One thing I struggled with was getting up to date and reliable information on Car Hire in the region.

So am relating my experiences here.

It doesn't take long to discover that South Africa is the cheapest place to hire a car and that was fine because the main airport hub for Southern Africa is Jo'berg.

The trip was as follows - flying to Cape Town, with a transfer to a low cost carrier in Joberg. Pick up Hire Car and after a day in CapeTown - drove to Namibia, over to Botswana , through Zimbabwe (Kasane/Vic Falls) and into Mozambique (Mutare/Chimoio) before travelling down to Swaziland (Namchaa) and then Dropping the Hire Car off in Joberg.

The only company that would do this was called aroundabout cars and they were generally very helpful about providing information. Once paying the initial deposit it became apparent that they had sub-contracted the hire to First Sixt which didn't lead to any issues. The daily car hire rate accounted for about half the total cost and was paid in advance, with the other half taken up with the various cross border fees charged ranging from 2500 rand for Mozambique to 500 rand for Swaziland. as well as a one-way drop off fee of 850 rand.

They provided a letter of authority which listed the countries I was permitted to take the car into. as well as a copy of the Car Registration document.

Taking the car into Namibia was straightforward which involved payment of 259 Namibian as a "Road Fund Administration" fee.
Botswana was similarly straightforward with a 150 pula fee which was itemised on the invoice as 50 for road permit, 50 for Road Fund , 50 for Insurance.
Taking the car into Zimbabwe was more problematic, one of the main things being the rather chaotic nature of the border post with lots of people keen to get through the border post at the time we went. (Many on one-day trips to see Vic Falls)
It was easy enough to get a Visa, this was $55 USD for us as British Subjects. The univisa scheme which allows one visa to cover a no of countries for $50 has been suspended so wasn't available. It was important at the point of getting the Visa to get a Gate pass. - This is nothing more than a small slip of paper on which is written your car registration and the no of people in your party. You have to ask for this at the time.
Next was to stand at the customs kiosk window. A this point a no. of earnest young men started to accost me saying I needed their help. I ignored them until I got to front of the line where handing over the registration doc for the car and the letter of authority I was involved that I needed to go and talk to one of the young men who turned out were "Vehicle Clearing Agents" They filled out a form headed "Pack Clearing Company" which seemed to be a guarantee that the agent would supervise the importation of the car. This cost $50 USD ! With this form I went back to the customs kiosk and handed it over. paying $11 USD Carbon Tax and then $30 USD Insurance direct to the Customs Man. Once I had done this we were free to go, handing over the gate pass to the man manning the barrier.
On our travels across the breadth of Zimbabwe we must have encountered at least 40 Police checkpoints, however there was never any problem and they were unfailingly polite which was a contrast to some of the scare stories I had read about.
On leaving Zimbabwe there was a bit of a dicey moment because apparently I should have asked my rental company back in South Africa for some sort of police declaration that certified that the car was not stolen etc. After playing innocent, easy enough as I had no idea there was a need for something I was eventually given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to leave.
Entry to Mozambique - There was more trouble here. As we approached the border post one of the officials opened the barrier and he then collared a chap who said they would help us get through the border quickly. I was taken off to the customs office where I was sat down. I was then asked for $65 USD fee. I was not happy about this but there was a real language issue as no one seemed to speak decent english and I was sitting in the customs officers office with the man with the official pass who had let me into the border post. I protested that this was too much and in the end it was suggested that I pay $45 USD which I reluctantly agreed to, though the young man was not too happy either. I was provided with an insurance certificate which I later discerned listed a fee of $20 USD for a months cover. I also recieved a vehicle importation certificate and a gate pass. It was then back to the Visa office where the chap started to fill in immigration forms transcribing information from our passports. He was far too slow at this and so we took over this and did it for him though he did usefully push into the front of the queue (he was clearly mates with the immigration officers) to get our passports stamped (we already had visas) Of we went, the only thing to note was that the N1 down the centre of the country was in very good condition for the first 200k but with occaisional big and sometimes huge potholes. The last 50km of road north of the Save river was atrocious though and barely manageable in our 2 Wheel Drive car with fairly low clearance.
Exit from Mozambique and entry to Swaziland went very smoothly as did the exit to South Africa. We had the car cleaned in Swaziland before driving up to Joberg as it was in a bit of a state. It was left looking totally immaculate and we were only charged 20 Rand. When dropping the car off at the First Sixt rental place at Joberg Airport, we were just told we could leave the car. That was the last I heard from anyone, though the balance of the car rental was taken from my Credit Card a few days later. Though I expected to be advised what I would be charged, the fee was not out of line with what I was expecting and the lack of communication was probably due to the fact the hire was sub-contracted out.
Anyhow hope this is of some use...