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How to cross from South Africa to Eswatini by car
Crossing from South Africa to Eswatini by car is very simple, We tell you how to do it step by step in this article. But there really is nothing to worry about, crossing the border of Eswatini, the former Swaziland, is a quick and standardized process that many tourists who visit South Africa do.
You can also read our complete guide to what to see in Eswatini in 2 days.
HOW TO CROSSING FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO ESWATINI, SHORT VERSION
Before going into detail, if you are looking for quick information on everything you will need to cross to Eswatini here you have it;
- International driving license (also needed for South Africa).
- Having the cross border Letter of Authorization and the Certificate of registration in respect of motor vehicle A document to be processed during the car collection in South Africa costs around €85.
- Car papers and rental Form/tax invoice (invoice they give you when you pick up the vehicle).
- Passport. With 3 months of validity, you do not need to process any visa to enter Eswatini.
Once at the border on the Eswatini side you also have to pay a vehicle entry fee 100 ZAR/car (6 euros) to be able to circulate.
POR WHERE TO CROSS FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO ESWATINI (Switzerland)
There are 11 border posts with South Africa. Although, the most visited by tourists are Lavumisa / Golela to the south and Mananga to the north because they are the most direct to go direction Kruger National Park.
We recommend that you use those two because it is where they are totally used to the procedures that a tourist has to do and seeing foreigners every day. Note that They are not open 24 hours a day. Lavumisa / Golela opens from 08:00-16:00 and Mananga 7:00-22:00. We entered the former Swaziland from the north after touring the Kruger National Park and left through Lavumisa towards Sodwana Bay, a beautiful beach in the iSimangaliso Park.
We leave you a map with all the border crossings between Eswatini and South Africa so you can locate the two that we recommend.
DOCUMENTATION TO ENTER ESWATINI BY CAR
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, the documentation you need is little and easy to obtain, but it is much better that you have everything ready before traveling to South Africa and Eswatini to avoid unforeseen events.
How to request the Cross Border to enter Eswatini
This document is the permit that authorizes you to sacar South Africa's vehicle and it must be processed by the agency to which you you rent the carIn our case, EuropcarIt is not a free document; it requires payment, and you must be the one to request it.
The price of cross border – Letter of Authorization To cross to Eswatini it changes depending on the rental company, but more or less expect that it will cost you about €85. You will pay the amount to pick up the car, but you have to request it before your trip so that it can be ready upon your arrival.
To order the Cross Border we We send an email to customer service a few weeks before of Europecar And they confirmed they were handling it. Although we know there are also companies that let you request it online through their website. It doesn't matter how you do it; as long as you give them a few days' notice so they can prepare, everything will be fine.
What do I have to pay at the Eswatini border?
When to cross from South Africa to Eswatini The only payment you will have to make is 100ZAR as a vehicle entry fee for the use of the carThe tolls are €6 per vehicle and can be paid by card.
You may be interested in:
How much does it cost to travel to South Africa, budget and tips
What to see and do in iSimangaliso Park
The best route around the Cape Peninsula in 1 day
European citizens do not need to apply for a visa to enter Eswatini, but many Latin American countries such as Mexico do need to apply and pay prior to arrival.
international driving license
The main driver of the vehicle must present the carinternational driving permit accompanied by cardriving license of the country of origin during the export of the vehicle, that is, when they are stamping your papers at the border confirming that you legally leave South Africa to enter Eswatini, or vice versa. Everything is indicated on the windows of the border posts.
Similarly, you also need to request the carInternational license from the DGT (Spanish Directorate General of Traffic) for driving in South Africa, it can be requested online and costs €10.
HOW IS THE PROCCESS TO CROSS INTO ESUATINI
The windows you have to go through are indicated and everyone speaks English so if you have any questions they will help you. These are the steps you will take to cross the border from South Africa to Eswatini:
- Leaving South Africa at immigration by stamping your passport.
- Car inspection (they do not inspect) they only look at the sticker on the glass which is the registration and license plate.
- You drive a few meters to the Eswatini border post.
- Enter Eswatini at the immigration window to have your passport stamped.
- Cross Border Verification, carnet of driving and vehicle rental at the vehicle export window.
- Payment at that same window (or a nearby one) of the €6 fee.
- Inspection of the car at the exit to cross to Eswatini (they opened the trunk for us but they were scared of everything there and closed it).
- ready you are in!
Our experience crossing
From our experience, and what we have heard from other travelers, it is always a quick process. I would say that We were only there for 30 minutes in total.. We came from spending the last morning in Kruger, we entered through Mananga at noon, to leave it was even faster because they do not have to check your Cross Border or pay fees, it is simply stamping the exit from Eswatini in the passport and the entry to South Africa.
By the way, In Eswatini, gasoline is cheaper so fill up your tank before you return to South Africa.
OWLS OF THE POLICE ON THE ESUATINI BORDER
It's not an area with a lot of corruption, but you can still get into trouble.car some police officer looking for extra pay.
In our experience the border seemed like a serious place, but while driving through Eswatini the police stopped us on several occasions (something common). We present everything and without problem, but in One time a police officer told us that we were missing a very important piece of paper without which we could not leave the country..
We know of other travelers that something similar has also happened to them, in fact, that police officer even stopped a couple that we were meeting at many campsites.
It seemed very obvious to us that it was a lie because we knew that everything was in order and because the first thing the police officer did was make sure to stand well away from the other officers so that they wouldn't see what was happening. So we spent a while (5-10 minutes) giving him a good vibe, but saying that we weren't going to pay anything extra and that we'd rather have problems leaving at the border.
And nothing, he got tired and told us that he would pray for us so that we wouldn't have problems. The other couple chose to pay the initial €10 that the police officer asked for and told them that he would send a WhatsApp to the border to notify them that they were missing “a piece of paper” and here comes the good thing… they also took a selfie with the police officer so that They were “recognised at the border.” As you see, nothing tragic!
We hope this article about crossing by car to Eswatini is helpful to you. To continue organizing your itinerary you can read our articles to travel to south africa and Guide to traveling to South Africa.
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