MOZAMBIQUE

Hoisting the Mozambique Flag

We checked ourselves in and out of  Mozambique (no agent) however, did use a local “guide” as interpretor.  Without going into detail, the process was frustrating and costly. My biggest problem was there appeared to be no defined process and definitely no defined documented costs, everything appeared to be loose and open to interpretation and negotiation. “I must phone my boss to get costs” is a frequent comment.

On checking out I had to pay “some tax” for being in Maputo Harbour which started at roughly R6000 and then after some negotiation was reduced to R1500! The reason for the reduction was that my ship was smaller, there was no tonnage calculation…just smaller. I paid in cash and asked for a receipt so that I had proof of the payment and then also hoping that I could from the receipt get clarity on what tax exactly I was paying. “Sorry, no receipt, Saturday finance people are not working”.

Beach Cottage on Inhaca Island, MozambiqueDeparture
COVID-19 Test

Immigration would not stamp us out unless we had done a Covid test on departure, despite informing them that we would be doing a PCR test on arrival in SA, they never budged on this.

Our takeaway on the experience is one of sadness. We love Inhaca Island, the people on the Island are fantastic, friendly, helpful and there appears to be a real willingness to promote tourism at grassroots level, however, the downside of the Maputo experience means we won’t be sailing to Inhaca anytime soon.

Ok, so now let’s juxtaposition this with our experience checking back into South Africa.

Keeping an eye out for DolphinsSouth Africa

First contact point was the registration on the OSASA website. I was expecting some hitches here…a request for some info. we don’t have or a document to be uploaded that we don’t have….nope, all the info. was standard and available. Ok, good, now for the payment, surely going to be a system problem here…nope, the payment portal was smooth and efficient!

Registration done and before I could close my machine an automated email came through stating that my registration and payment had been received…nice.

Next point of contact, dockside at Tuzi Gazi Marina (Richards Bay). At around 6:30 am Natasha Wolmarans (OSASA representative) appeared on the dock, welcomed us home and outlined what the procedure would be….nice.

About an hour later medical staff, young friendly and efficient, arrived to do our Covid tests (antigen) and told us that the results would be emailed to myself and Tash shortly, ja right! A few hours later, I get a mail with our negative results and I see Tash has been copied…nice.

About 45 minutes later a solemn but efficient officer from Port Health arrives and does our clearance. Ok, for the sake of avoiding repetition I going to stop saying “nice” but you get the picture, right?

Tash was kind enough to let Immigration know that Port Health had checked us in and shortly after an Immigration Officer arrived and stamped us into the country and wished us a good day!

Nice, sorry had to say it again!

We had dinner ashore and the following day headed over to the Zululand Yacht Club (ZYC).

The Last Step

Now for the last step, SARS/Customs (we are a foreign registered vessel), surely this is where things go wrong, a 100m to go to the finish line and we going to falter, surely!

I arrive at the Customs office with my duly completed DA1 doc, registration papers, combed hair and a clean shirt. The officer came to the front desk and processed my documents, stamp, stamp and wished me on my way…the process took all of 4 minutes and was completely painless!

So after the whole experience all I can say is ….that I am proud of all the SA officials that checked us in, you guys did a great job! I am not sure what exactly OSASA is trying to achieve but man they have defined the process, and made it seamless and painless….thank you!  …and lastly, the experience made me proud to be a South African.

Thanks for listening to my story.

Robin Lavery
SV SeaScape

Noonsite:  Mozambique Formalities

Noonsite:  South Africa Formalities

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About the Author and his family