Removals to South Africa

Removal times to South Africa vary depending on where in South Africa you are moving to. It can take longer to reach remote inland areas compared to destinations close to major ports. For example, shipping to Johannesburg typically takes longer than to Cape Town and Durban.

On average though, we estimate around 3-6 weeks for a sole use or full shipping container (FCL) and 6-10 weeks for shared shipping containers (LCL). 

On arrival, your shipping container will need to be cleared by customs and how long this takes can vary depending on how busy the port is. For this reason, all shipping times are only estimates. It is important to mention that there is a good chance that a part load container, sometimes referred to as groupage or shared, will take longer to arrive than a full container load, FCL.

Unfortunately, the timescales for shipping to South Africa are not precise. We would love to be able to give our customers exact timings for international removals to South Africa, but several factors come into play when shipping internationally, and some of them are beyond our control.

The cost of removals to South Africa will depend on several factors, such as the volume of goods you are sending, what packing is required, and the distance you are from the port.

As a rough guide, expect to pay £1100 – £2800 for an apartment move and £4500 – £7500 for a full household removal to South Africa.

Additional costs will also need to be considered, such as optional insurance/shipment protection and South African customs inspection fees that need to be paid on arrival.

The best way to get a more accurate price or estimate is to call our team or request a removals quote online. They can also advise on the best way to reduce your removal costs to get the cheapest removals to South Africa.

NB: As prices are regularly changing, we highly recommend you contact us to get an estimate of current removal costs and book a free home or virtual survey so that we can give you a more accurate removals quote.

Additional fees not included in your removal costs quote include customs inspection fees, duties and port fees payable on arrival in South Africa, storage services and maritime insurance or shipment protection cover, which is recommended but not required.

As you prepare to journey or relocate to South Africa, an important step is understanding the country’s rules on items that aren’t allowed or are restricted for import. Whether your move is temporary, long-term or permanent, double-checking these items and making the necessary arrangements is a must-do.

Prohibited Items:

1. Addictive Substances: Any form of narcotics or drugs known to be habit-forming are strictly off-limits for importation.
2. Arms: The country has a firm ban on fully automatic, military, and unnumbered weaponry.
3. Fireworks and Explosives: Any variety of explosives, including fireworks, aren’t permitted for import.
4. Toxic Elements: Importing any category of poison or toxic substances is strictly disallowed.
5. Tobacco Products: The country doesn’t allow the import of cigarettes with a mass of over 2kg per 1,000 units.
6. Infringing Goods: Goods bearing a trademark or trade description that contravenes any Act, including counterfeits, aren’t permitted.
7. Infringement of Copyright: The unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted work is barred from import.

Restricted Items:

1. Firearms and Weapons: Approval is needed to import any type of firearm or weapon.
2. Gold Coins: There are restrictions on the import of gold coins, necessitating approval.
3. Currency: Excess cash or banknotes above a certain limit require permission to import.
4. Raw Minerals: Unprocessed minerals, such as gold and diamonds, are subject to import restrictions.
5. Animals, Plants, and Derivative Products: The import of animals, plants, and their products, like animal skins, dairy products, and honey, requires special permission.
6. Medicine: Only a sufficient quantity for personal treatment for three months can be imported, with a letter or certified prescription from a registered physician.
7. Herbal Products: Import of these requires a permit from the Department of Health.

For the full list of prohibited and restricted items, click here to view the official website.

Our international removals service is perfect for shipping your furniture to South Africa from the UK.

For furniture removals, every item is carefully packed or ‘export wrapped’ using packing materials such as blanket wrap. All furniture pieces, including sofas, armchairs, beds, tables and cupboards, can be packed and shipped in a container.

As large items are bulky, you consider which are cost effective to send. For example, most houses and apartments in South Africa have built-in wardrobes, so shipping these might not be worthwhile.

It is possible to ship your car or other vehicles in a 40 ft container alongside your house contents, especially since they drive on the left side of the road.

However, South Africa does have strict import criteria for cars so speak to our team to ensure that importing your vehicle is feasible and cost effective.

Some paperwork will be required but we can help you ensure it is all completed correctly and our agents will take care of customs clearance for you.

United International Removals take great care to ensure your belongings are well-packed and taken care of during their journey. We only use accredited shipping lines and partners to ensure the highest levels of service.

However, due to the nature of international shipping and removals, it is recommended that you take out your own maritime insurance policy or shipment protection cover for complete peace of mind. Just like when you mail a parcel overseas, the shipping company cannot cover the full value of your goods in the unlikely event of something going missing or being broken.

We can offer and recommend Shipment Protection Cover that is highly flexible and will offer you lots of advantages.

This cover is simple and easy to put in place. All that is required is the completion of a shipment protection valuation form detailing the items that need to be covered and their value.

The shipment protection costs are calculated on the value that you want to cover and are based on whether you have packed the items or they have been packed professionally.

Will you need storage in the UK or South Africa?

Moving from one location in the UK to another is rarely the smooth process that people hope for, so it goes without saying that when you move to another country, the entire process can become a little trickier.

Often people find that they have a period of time once they have sold their property and before they move when they need to place their belongings in storage, which we can help you with.

We have several storage solutions depending on your needs. We can arrange storage for your personal effects in the UK before they are shipped or in South Africa after they arrive – whichever suits your situation.

If the issue is that you do not have a fixed address in South Africa to ship your belongings to, then we can arrange for your household goods and personal effects to be placed in storage in South Africa whilst you sort out accommodation.

Once you have a property ready, our local movers can arrange delivery of your belongings from storage.

Many of our customers worry about customs clearance for all of their belongings when they arrive in South Africa. This is something that we can help you with. However, you may find the following helpful information when planning your move.

If you are a returning South African citizen or a migrant with a permanent visa who has been away from South Africa for over six months, there will be no Customs Duties to pay on any removal goods or household effects you ship. It is important to check if you meet these criteria. However, other customs-related charges, fees and duties may need to be paid.

The shipment’s owner must be in South Africa at least ten days before the shipment arrives at the port, for Customs clearance can take place for both air and sea shipments. Returning residents must have been out of South Africa for an unbroken period of at least six months.

If the returning resident has not been out of the country for an unbroken period of at least six months, customs will apply duty and taxes and the returning resident will have to apply for an import permit for each commodity of household goods, i.e. electrical appliances will be one permit, wooden furniture will be another permit, so you could have up to 6 different types of import permits. Then duties and taxes will be calculated.

No duty-free import will be allowed on a tourist/visitor visa even if a work/resident permit application is pending.

Customs regulations and duties are subject to change, so it can be a good idea to check for the most up-to-date guidelines and information.

For your shipping container to be released, you will need to pay any customs duties, inspection fees, and also any other charges. These will be payable locally. Our agents in South Africa will be able to assist you with the customs clearance process.

The personal Move Coordinator who is assigned to you when you choose us to assist with your removal will be able to advise you with information regarding what you can and can’t take to South Africa and how you can prepare and clean your items for shipping. If you prefer, our expert packers can help you with this.

This information is essential as it can help minimise customs inspection and quarantine fees that the South African Customs Service may change.