Paper chase
Soutpiel Safari
John & Jenny
Wed 6 Apr 2011 05:42
|
Tuesday 5 April 2011. Tandile, Broederstroom, South
Africa
Now we have got the Land Rover clean I am engaged in
getting it registered in South Africa.
We had already obtained a "Letter of Authority" from
NRCS, a division of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). As Land Rover
had been unable to give me a Certificate of Conformity for the vehicle (on
account of it's age - 2003!!) the LOA was marked "subject to NRCS
inspection". Today's job was to have that inspection.
In spite of having an appointment, and being there on
time, the NRCS Inspector kept me waiting an hour and a half but the inspection
was routine. He just needed to check the specification of all the window
glass, all the lenses, the seat belts, the tyres and the AC
refrigerant. Then I had to pay R50 for a "clean" copy of the LOA. As
most Government institutions no longer accept cash, I had to pay R50 into their
bank account at ABSA and bring back a receipt. This took another hour and
a half - to find the bank and drive a 10 km round trip.
Then to Brits to the local vehicle licensing authority
to check on the other documentation required, which turned out to
be:
- a certified copy of my passport
- the UK registration document
- a Police Identification check
- a weighbridge certificate
- the LOA from SABS
- a Bill of Entry (SAD500) from Customs and
Excise
and, of course, a four page application
form!
I did the weighbridge certificate and then went to the
Police. That was fun - they had to verify the VIN number and the engine
number from the vehicle against those on the registration paper. it took
us over an hour to find the engine number! I must say that the South African
Police were extremely helpful and good natured about the whole exercise which
was for them dirty, frustrating and time consuming.
So now all I need is the Customs document. That's
tomorrow's job and another early trip into Pretoria. Today took 170 kms of
driving and its going to be much the same tomorrow.
|