Car Shipping to South Africa

Why ship a car to South Africa from the UK

Ship Cars RoRo is a specialist UK vehicle export company moving cars, SUVs, classics, motorbikes and light commercials to South Africa every month. African importers absorb more used UK vehicle volume than any other region, with West, East and Southern African ports each running their own weekly RORO calls and consolidated container schedules out of Tilbury, Southampton and Felixstowe. Typical clients on this lane include fleet operators and SACU buyers, alongside private owners relocating to South Africa and returning residents importing a personal vehicle. Our UK-to-South Africa corridor is engineered around predictable transit, transparent pricing and full compliance with South Africa customs.

Vehicles depart from Felixstowe, Southampton, Bristol (Portbury) and arrive at Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth via Cape routing via Walvis Bay and Durban. Typical door-to-port turnaround is 20–28 days to durban, supported by marine all-risks insurance, GPS-tracked UK collection and bonded warehousing where required. For an instant indication of cost, use our car shipping cost calculator or request a tailored quote on our quote page.

How UK to South Africa car shipping works

Every shipment to South Africa follows the same six-step pipeline: free quotation, UK collection or self-drop at Felixstowe, bonded UK warehousing and pre-shipment photos, HMRC NOVA / C88 export clearance handled by our UK customs clearance team, ocean transit to Durban (and onward feeder to Cape Town where required), and destination customs handover. You choose the shipping mode that best matches the vehicle profile and budget — see the full breakdown on our car shipping costs page or compare live RORO sailing dates to South Africa.

South Africa ports, routing and transit

Vehicles bound for South Africa are typically routed through Durban as the lead discharge port, with Cape Town, Port Elizabeth available as alternatives depending on sailing schedule and onward inland transport. We schedule loads to match weekly RORO sailing schedules to South Africa and consolidated shared container departures from the UK. For sole-use loads we book 20ft and 40ft container slots on the same rotation.

• Port of Durban
• Port of Cape Town
• Port of Port Elizabeth
• UK departure: Southampton
• UK departure: Tilbury
• UK departure: Bristol (Portbury)

South Africa import duty, VAT and customs in 2026

Importing a vehicle into South Africa is regulated and document-driven. The headline framework is summarised below; our team verifies every figure against the latest South Africa customs schedule before quoting.

• Vehicle age limits and pre-shipment inspection (PSI/SGS/Intertek)
• Country-specific import duties, VAT and excise on engine size
• RORO and shared container handling at Tema, Apapa, Mombasa and Durban
• Right-hand-drive compatibility in most markets

Document checklist for South Africa

• V5C registration
• Passport
• Commercial invoice
• Bill of Lading
• ITAC import permit
• SABS compliance certificate
• Letter of authority

For full country-specific customs rules, see our South Africa import guides and articles, our UK and South Africa customs clearance service, or use the duty-inclusive cost calculator for a landed estimate to Durban.

Other Africa destinations from the UK

We ship to 8+ other Africa countries from the UK on the same trade lanes as South Africa. Many customers shipping to South Africa also enquire about Kenya, Nigeria because routing, customs documentation and transit windows overlap.