Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Meet and greet in Johannesburg

There is a thread on AR about whether or not to use a meet and greet service in Joberg. The majority recommended using such a service to expedite going through SAPS and avoiding all the potential hassles and need for potential bribes.i have only one experience with SAPS and it was not pleasant. The outfitter somehow neglected to have his outfitter number on the letter of invitation. SAPS seized on this and life was difficult for a while. My hunting partner is a Texas judge and realized how to solve the problem. A discreet discussion and $40 solved the problem. This only reinforces TIA, This is Africa. Namibia has one of the easiest if not the easiest gun entry and exit processes. When we were leaving Namibia, again the Judge, my hunting partner has a problem. The serial numbers on his rifle have an alleged discrepancy with the paper work. But if he makes a $10 donation to the inspector's daughter's soccer team, all will be well. Needless to say a team donation was at hand. I am very frugal and hate to spend money unless necessary , so The point being I will use a meet and greet to not only save time money and aggravation,and reduce my blood pressure by 10 points. Porsche73

A meet and greet won't save you money as the fees are far larger than the bribes involved but I use one because I hate to be shaken down.

I think I was told that even though my hunt is in Namibia I will need an invitation letter because I am going thru JB.

Meet and greet in JHB is usually about $180,money well spent unless you like to pay bribes or take five hours to get through customs.

Bribes and shake downs in Africa? TIA, yes. When you pay it, it's AWA (Africa Wins Again).

Or as we call it, "The African Salute." (Outstretched palm discreetly next to your hip)

You have to have an invitation letter from your outfitter in Namibia regardless of whether you go through JB or not.

I've been to Africa 3 times, so I'm hardly an expert. However, take some friendly advice, FWIW of course.......Call Steve Turner at Travel With Guns, have him book your flights, have him book Africa Sky guest house and buy their VIP service which includes meet and greet at the airport, SAPS gun permits, a fantastic steak dinner, fantastic breakfast, clean, spacious rooms, and all the beer you want at your disposal. This costs around $275 IIRC for the whole ball of wax.

Last year I did the above. The AS guy met me in the arrival hall, took me to the SAPS office, and after a couple of other hutner's quickly got their rifles, all came to a standstill. There happened to be a shift change in progress, and since it is indeed Africa, the whole process stopped. He whisked me off to some office where the nice lady confirmed my rifle was indeed made it to JB, so back to SAPS we went, where approximately 12 others were wondering what the heck was going on. My guy was having a conversation with one of the SAPS guys, and off behind closed doors they went, and in 5 minutes they were back with my rifle, which was immediately cleared, and off we went. The other dozen guys were still standing there helplessly. Turns out, the shift that was leaving just left all the rifles out in the back somewhere for someone else to sort out, and the guys up front could have cared less.

The whole "ordeal" lasted probably 45 minutes total, but I was off to Africa Sky with my rifle to eat steak and drink Tafel's while everybody else was still trying to figure out where their rifles were. The choice is obviously yours, but I'll use Africa Sky's VIP deal every time I go, and am doing so again in August.

Oh, the next morning after breakfast I was taken "by the hand" by the AS guy back to SAPS, checkin, etc, no questions asked by anyone, nobody with SA Air asked me about ammo, or to check it separately like they sometimes do, nothing. Everything went off to perfection, no hassles. I feel it is well worth the cost.

Namibia is painless, but you will have to have your paperwork in order there too, but it is very simple.

M & G in Joburg might not save you money, but it will sure as hell save you some time and hassle.

donsm70

I am using Travels With Guns to book my flights and handle the other details. My plans have changed radically over the last month and the crew at TWG have been nothing but polite and professional.if all goes as I expect they will continue to get all of my business. Porsche73

My buddy and I used African Odysey (sp) without a hitch. Picked us up literally when the door of the plane opened and went thru customs, guns, luggage and also to us to our hotel there at JBerg. i will use them again and can recommend them.

There are a number of M&G services. I know the Afton House has one as well, as I am using it for my trip in May.

The question was, will the invitation letter from the Namibian outfitter satisfy the requirements of the RSA authorities or does the letter have to come from someone in RSA?

Make sure you check over your paperwork thoroughlybefore leaving the SAPS office....I heard from our booking agent that one of his clients had an issue with the serial number on his rifle, and he just assumed that they (SAPS) were doing their job correctly....until he had left the building with his firearm and they ran after him and dragged him back. Then the usual shake down occured as to how his rifle wouldn't be allowed in country, but for a small "fee" of $50 it could be corrected quickly. The client knew he was being shaken down and refused to pay, but it took him several hours and dealings with several people to get out of that situation.
Our booking agent informed us to look over our paperwork and make sure that EVERYTHING matched correctly: caliber, serial numbers, etc.
Well, sure enough....before I left I checked and they had the caliber listed wrong on my paperwork for one of my rifles. They had me bringing in two rifles of the same caliber (which is illegal) and I caught that mistake before I even left the office......fortunately, I used the Afton house M&G and the "mistake" was quickly fixed and we were out of there......could have been an innocent mistake, but from what I heard, most of the mistakes in SAPS are not "innocent".

I'm not sure what you mean by "satisfy the requirements of the RSA authorities"? If your final destination is Namibia, have the Namibia invitation letter handy just in case someone asks. You won't need one from RSA just for transiting through J'Burg. I don't remember if I needed the Namibian invitation letter or not for the SAPS permit but I can check later and let you know.

I've used the meet/greet and pre-approved SAPS service every time I've gone, and once my rifle showed up in the SAPS office I've never spent more than 5 minutes actually clearing the rifle.

If you are over nighting in Jo'burg and have to have a RSA permit, you will need a letter of invitation from your outfitter. At least I did on my way to Mozambique in 2014.

southpaw is right. I checked, and the invitation letter is in the batch of paperwork needed in RSA.

I have to wonder how many "Meet and Greet" companies just go ahead and pay the bribes out of their fees ahead of time? In that case the M&G is nothing more than a middle man, getting their cut IMO.

However, if they do save you time and aggravation, it might be worth the extra money.

BH63

BH63 - that's an interesting thought. They grease the palms so you don't have to.

I AM overnighting in JB, and my thought was if you don't have to have an invitation letter from someone in RSA itself then you could have anyone anywhere in the world write one for you. But maybe they look at the ticket for your next destination country to see if it matches the invitation letter. It's a little hard for me to believe that they're that thorough though.

This is correct.

I prefer for the middleman to pay "the bite" if one is paid. At least I won't be paying bail if the recipient gets pissed off. I will be using a service this summer, not worth the hassle of the do-it-yourself plan.

I agree wesheltonj. I don't care who is paying whomever, whatever. I'll be drinking Tafel's at Africa Sky by the time the do it yourselfer gets out of the SAPS office.


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