next ime you travel to RSA for a hunt

11 December 2006, 12:42

NitroX

quote:
In fact, Superintendent Malepa vowed that no foreign hunters would ever be delayed again, which in the past has resulted in hunters missing a connecting flight.

quote:
The basic procedure for the arrival of hunting weapons from any country will be as follows: Firearms will be removed from the aircraft by security and brought to the firearm office via a special reception section in the firearm office. There the firearms will be kept under lock and key.

The hunter on the other hand will first go through emigration, then collect his/her luggage, proceed through customs and then move on to terminal 1 and the firearm office. There the hunter will be issued with his/her firearms after a check to ensure that the serial numbers and make correlate with the personal data of the hunter. The final step is the issuing of the SAP 525 or temporary import permit.

Being a cynic, lets hope for connecting flights when you do not enter the country, one can still check the firearms straight through!

11 December 2006, 17:29

infinito

I must say they stuck to their word so far....Any bad experiences since the change? I have not had any so far.....

Charl van Rooyen
Owner
Infinito Travel Group
www.infinito-safaris.com
charl@infinito-safaris.com
Cell: +27 78 444 7661
Tel: +27 13 262 4077
Fax:+27 13 262 3845
Hereford Street 28A
Groblersdal
0470
Limpopo
R.S.A.

"For the Infinite adventure"

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"I promise every hunter visiting us our personal attention from the moment we meet you, until your trophies hang on your wall. Our all inclusive service chain means you work with one person (me) taking responsibility during the whole process. Affordable and reputable Hunting Safaris is our game! With a our all inclusive door to door service, who else do you want to have fun with?"

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11 December 2006, 18:14

butchloc

hopefully this will eliminate the "missing guns" as well.

11 December 2006, 20:59

J.R.Jackson

Sounds good.

12 December 2006, 00:19

ndlovu

quote:
Originally posted by Robert johnson:
It's sounds great! But I think the gun handling services will do their best to ensure their services are still needed!

just to clarify something:
the guys working at the SA police unit at johannesburg INTL airport ( name recently changed to Oliver Thambo Intl airport) are just normal police officers stationed there. they arent a contract or service type operation and therefore wont benefit or lose anything with regards to delays in firearm processing etc. its just a 9 to 5 job for them and they usually get rotated with other police officers.
and when you travel to SA you should know before hand what fees to pay, anything "asked" extra, constitues bribing, and is a serious violation of the SA Police's ethics and they are combating it hard. so much so that officers found taking bribes are arrested immediately.
i know most guys think its normal to butter a hand just to avoid hassles and think its the way to do things, but nothing can be further from the truth. if you are traveling to SA for a hunt or if anyone wants it i will supply you with a control room telephone number where you can speak to a senior official of the SA Police in case of problems. there is also a toll free number which you can use on any phone when in SA. after hours there must also be a senior police officer in charge and on call, so when problems are experienced he must be contacted and this can be done through the number listed below.
numbers: ( available 24hours a day)
+27112481034
+27112481000
10111 ( tollfree when in SA, the SA version of 911, on answering ask to speak to the control room supervisor)
in SA the 1st 2 numbers will be dailed:
0112481034 and 0112481000.
i hope this will help someone.

also: as a south african im having problems following name changes so im sure it must be hell for overseas visitors:
Johannesburg intl airport was previously known as Jan Smuts Intl airport. the name was recently changed again to Oliver Thambo Intl airport.

12 December 2006, 01:46

lb404

I did not see that they have addressed another serious problem in the system. If you want to travel through RSA and stay over a few days prior to or after a hunt in another country, you do not have an invitation from an outfitter to hunt as you are passing through RSA not hunting in RSA. One can cheat on this by contacting an outfitter that books in RSA and have him make up a fake letter. I do not think that is good because if the SAPS check up on you and find fraud then the outfitter and you can be in deep trouble. This happend to me comming from Zambia to Cape Town and cost us a bribe of $100.00 each to get a letter or the rifles would be confiscated. Not a good situation to be in. As a result my wife, partner and I will not be staying overnight in RSA any longer or until they change the silly rule. Having all of the proper documentation including letters from Peter in Zambia did no good. It really needs to be addressed as so many of have to go through RSA to get to our final destination.

12 December 2006, 02:06

N E 450 No2

I have "used" the new firearms twice this year.
In March and again in October.

I reported on my experience both times.

It is a lot better than the old office.

I was not asked for money 0n the second 2 trips.

The SAPS persones were very nice, even if one of them thought my double was "an automatic".

Lb 404.
On both of my second trips I was hunting in Zim, but staying over in SA for 2 days. I had an invitation letter from my Zim outfitter which met the requirements.

I also had a "Letter of Intent" written by me that stated I was hunting in Zim but staying over in SA [with the location I was staying]what day I was leaving for Zim and what day I was traveling back through SA.

I had no problems.

12 December 2006, 04:56

MacD37

Here is the article!

quote:
Johannesburg International Airport
Johannesburg International Airport and foreign hunters: Some good news

Enjoying the new furniture donated by African Outfitter for the new firearm office at Johannesburg International. Left to right: Captain Roeloffse, Superintendent Malepa, Shadrack Moletsane and Neels Geldenhuys of African OutfitterEver since the implementation of the new Firearms Act on 1 July 2004, professional hunters and outfitters have been complaining bitterly about the services rendered by the police at Johannesburg International Airport.
Delays varying between one to five hours reputedly occur on a regular basis. Many foreign hunters from America and Europe have indicated that they will not visit South Africa again because of these delays with firearm documentation at Johannesburg International Airport.

The South African Police Service has therefore launched a new incentive at Johannesburg International to ensure from their side that South Africa retains its position as a prime hunting destination. Working very closely with Commissioner Mawela, Superintendent Malepa, as the commander of the firearm office of this Airport, has managed to secure a new area in the main building and specifically in the terminal 1 designated area.

A spacious firearm office in the terminal 1 area has just been completed. Within this area or office special safe-keeping facilities have also been established. The basic procedure for the arrival of hunting weapons from any country will be as follows: Firearms will be removed from the aircraft by security and brought to the firearm office via a special reception section in the firearm office. There the firearms will be kept under lock and key.

The hunter on the other hand will first go through emigration, then collect his/her luggage, proceed through customs and then move on to terminal 1 and the firearm office. There the hunter will be issued with his/her firearms after a check to ensure that the serial numbers and make correlate with the personal data of the hunter. The final step is the issuing of the SAP 525 or temporary import permit.

Documents required from the hunter are: copies of his/her passport, the air ticket issued by the airline as well as any document which verifies the firearms as being the property of the hunter from his/her country of origin. The letter of invitation from the outfitter to the client prior to the hunt is also essential.

As a token of our support for the new incentive from the South African Police Service, African Outfitter has donated couches, a coffee machine as well as a DVD player and TV for this area. The sole purpose of this donation is to make the foreign hunter feel at home right at the airport.

Outfitters and professional hunters are invited to supply African Outfitter with photos and videos of hunts to enable us to compile a promotional DVD on South Africa as a hunting destination. This DVD will be played 24/7 in this new comfortable reception area.

After meetings with Commissioner Mawela, Superintendent Malepa, Inspector Mothapo, Mr Shadrack Moletsane and Captain Roeloffse, African Outfitter staff left the Johannesburg International Airport convinced that these people are totally dedicated to rendering a highly efficient service to overseas clients in future.

In fact, Superintendent Malepa vowed that no foreign hunters would ever be delayed again, which in the past has resulted in hunters missing a connecting flight.

12 December 2006, 09:56

Russ Gould

They forgot to mention, you have to sign for your weapons in the baggage claim area logbook before you go thru customs (without the guns) to then claim them at the office. If you don't sign, you will wait in the office forever and your guns won't show up. Then you have to go back into the secure area and so on.

12 December 2006, 21:46

lb404

quote:
Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I have "used" the new firearms twice this year.
In March and again in October.

I reported on my experience both times.

It is a lot better than the old office.

I was not asked for money 0n the second 2 trips.

The SAPS persones were very nice, even if one of them thought my double was "an automatic".

Lb 404.
On both of my second trips I was hunting in Zim, but staying over in SA for 2 days. I had an invitation letter from my Zim outfitter which met the requirements.

I also had a "Letter of Intent" written by me that stated I was hunting in Zim but staying over in SA [with the location I was staying]what day I was leaving for Zim and what day I was traveling back through SA.

I had no problems.

I also had a letter from my outfitter (Wes Hixon) stating I was to hunt in Zambia and then exit through Cape Town after the hunt. I had a letter from Peter Chipman with my hunting agreement which included the side trip to Vic Falls as well as a statement that I was then going to exit through RSA in Cape Town and tour a bit prior to leaving for home. I had a complete airline ticketing itinary as well as all the documents from Gracey Travel to support all of the other information and it still was not good enough. We discussed this with three levels of Officials and their solution was to confiscate the rifles until we could see the magistrate on Monday. That was two days after we were to leave for home. Finally we gave in and bought their damn faked letter from some no name local professional hunter and just got on with it. You really need to know when to fold them.