Transporters stand to gain from Swazi car import ruling

Vehicles must enter by truck or rail
JAMES HALL
MBABANE – Second hand cars purchased by Swazis in other countries may not be driven into the kingdom, but must be transported by truck or rail from April 1.
Because local car prices are up to 50% higher than the cost of identical vehicles purchased in Johannesburg and Durban, Swazis prefer to buy their used cars in South Africa.
As for new cars, the principal secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Musa Fakudze, told FTW: “The transfer of vehicles from the Durban sea port to Swaziland will have to be either by way of truck or rail transport to the Matsapha Dry Port.”
Located outside the main commercial centre Manzini, Swaziland Railway’s Inland Container Depot (“dry port”) serves the Matsapha Industrial Estate, and is a central clearing house for Swaziland Customs. It is home to most road transport company headquarters and freight logistics companies. The regulation also seeks to free up customs officers at border posts to devote more of their time to road transport shipments.
Swazis see the move as an attempt to stop them from purchasing vehicles in South Africa, to the benefit of local car dealerships.
The manager of one Matsapha road freight company agreed: “Of course, that’s absolutely correct, along with government’s desire to retrieve lost customs revenue. Most Swazis don’t bother to register their SA vehicles as Swazi to avoid the tax.”
But noting that car ownership has doubled in the past five years, as the nation’s highway network has expanded, he said transport firms were looking forward to the new government-mandated business.