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Matching Quality Sportsmen With Quality Outfitters

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July 2005
Updated South African Travel Information

From The Hunting Report:
"We know that many of you are getting ready to fly to or through South Africa this month with a firearm, and we thought it was important to remind you what’s involved and tell you about some new wrinkles in the process. You almost certainly already know that if South Africa is your final destination you must fill out an SAP 520 form and submit a list of other information to airport police on arrival. Specifically, you will also need to show proof of ownership of your firearms and demonstrate that you have permission from your country of origin to export your firearms. Americans may present their US Customs Form 4457 for these purposes. For a complete list of all the support documentation you will need to clear your guns in South Africa and to download an SAP 520 form, Click Here or go to www.huntingreport.com.
Scroll down to “Important Forms” in the left-hand margin and click on “Gun Import Procedures for South Africa.” Keep in mind that whether you are staying in South Africa or just transiting through, semi-automatic firearms (whether shotguns or rifles) are not importable and will be seized.

What you may not know at this point is that you may have to comply with all of the above requirements even if you are just transiting South Africa. The circumstances under which this would occur depend greatly on how your airline tickets are handled and what carriers you fly with. Simply put, if the carrier you take from the US or elsewhere can check your bags straight through to your final destination, you won’t have to clear your guns. If your carrier can’t do that, you will have to clear your guns.

According to Debbie Gracy of Gracy Travel International (800-299-8558), the underlying issue is something called interline agreements. These agreements allow airlines to work together on the forwarding of baggage. If the airlines you plan to use to get to your final destination don’t have an interline agreement, your bags can’t be checked through to your final destination, and that is what will force you to clear your guns on arrival in South Africa.

Gracy recommends you check with your travel agent to make sure all of the carriers you fly with have these agreements in place. She also recommends that you have all of your flights booked on one ticket, as that helps ensure proper routing of baggage to a final destination. The exception to this is if you are flying aboard British Airways with Zimbabwe as your final destination. England still has an embargo on firearms to Zimbabwe. Counter personnel in London are required to deny you boarding rights with a firearm if the ticket you present shows Zimbabwe as an immediate or final destination. The South Africa/Zimbabwe portion of your ticket MUST be separate from your London/South Africa ticket.

There is an important wrinkle to be aware of if you are a transiting passenger who has to clear his guns in South Africa. Be sure you have your safari operator’s name, his contact information, his hunting location and his PH license number. Be sure you have that information readily available, too. We have received reports of subscribers having to use satellite phones in the terminal to reach their outfitters in Zambia, Botswana and elsewhere.

As if all of this were not enough, we just learned of another important wrinkle. Seems South African Airways is enforcing a ban on the transport of more than two firearms per gun case per passenger. This past week, we heard from a subscriber who had to buy a gun case from SAA for his third gun ($70) and then pay an extra $125 for having an additional piece of baggage."

South African Weapons Importation

South Africa has a weapons importation regulation, which began on July 1, 2004, which could mean that you might miss your connecting flight, as the whole process can take several hours on arrival.

South African Airlines will not allow you to ship your weapons directly to your end destination.

They also require an ownership document for your weapon, stating the serial number, which you must get from your local police or sheriff's office.

There are some ways of solving this problem:
.Book your flights via Frankfurt (Germany) straight into Windhoek with Air Namibia. (Singapore Airlines is Air Namibia's partner from most destinations in the world.)
.Airfreight your weapons in advance, BUT NOT VIA SOUTH AFRICA.
.Don't bring weapons, rent from us. We have high quality weapons in camp