South Africa–Mozambique Border Crossings: Lebombo, Kosi Bay & Kruger

The South Africa–Mozambique border has four road crossings: Lebombo / Ressano Garcia on the N4, open 24 hours and by far the busiest; Kosi Bay / Ponta do Ouro on the coast; and Giriyondo and Pafuri, two remote 4x4 crossings inside Kruger National Park. A fifth option runs through Eswatini.

Which one you use depends on where you’re starting, what you’re driving and what time of day you’ll get there. This guide compares all of them, then walks through the paperwork for you and the car, and how the crossing actually works on the day. Visa rules have their own guide — Mozambique ETA & visa — so we only touch on them here.

The border posts compared

Four posts connect South Africa and Mozambique directly, and they’re very different crossings. Lebombo is the motorway route; Kosi Bay is the beach route; Giriyondo and Pafuri are wilderness routes for people already in Kruger.

Hours are from the Border Management Authority’s list of ports of entry and SANParks. They change around Easter and the December holidays, and the Kruger crossings close when the rivers flood — ring the post before you commit to a late arrival.

Lebombo / Ressano Garcia: the main crossing

Lebombo, near Komatipoort in Mpumalanga, is the busiest border between South Africa and Mozambique and the one most road trips use. Ressano Garcia is the Mozambican side. It sits at the end of the N4, about 460 km from Johannesburg — roughly five hours of driving before the border — and Maputo is another 90 km, about an hour and a quarter, once you’re through.

Hours. The Border Management Authority said in April 2026 that Lebombo “already operates 24/7”. Its February 2025 port list still shows 06:00 to midnight, so if you’re arriving in the small hours, call 013 793 7311 first.

Queues. Holidays are when it hurts. Over Christmas 2025 the Border Management Authority processed 30,152 people at Lebombo in a single 24 hours — a record for any South African land port, it said. The December–January peak and Easter are the times to leave extra hours for. Cars don’t queue with the trucks, so drive past the line of lorries on the approach.

Arrive in daylight. UK government travel advice warns of armed robberies in the queues near Lebombo, mainly after dark. Plan the day so you cross, and finish the drive, while it’s light.

Tolls. The N4 has eight toll plazas between Pretoria and the border, from R17 to R126 each for a car (TRAC N4, Class 1 from 1 March 2026). On the Mozambican side there are two more before Maputo: Moamba (240 meticais) and Maputo (30 meticais). Carry rand and meticais in small notes.

A one-stop border is coming, not here yet. Mozambican officials already work alongside South African ones at Lebombo, but the single shared post — one queue, one set of checks — hasn’t been switched on. For now you still clear two countries.

How the Lebombo crossing works, step by step

Crossing Lebombo by car is two separate checks for you and one for the vehicle, in a set order. This is the sequence regular drivers describe — the layout shifts now and then, but the order doesn’t.

1. Park on the South African side. Cars bypass the truck queue and park, usually on the left.
2. Get stamped out of South Africa. There’s usually a faster queue for South African passport holders.
3. Drive through to the Mozambican side and park. Go into the building and find the passport counters.
4. Get stamped in, then check the dates on the stamp before you walk away. A wrong date is your problem later.
5. Do the car’s paperwork. The temporary import permit (form DA 341) is done at a separate counter — check every detail on it matches your registration papers.
6. Get the car inspected. A customs officer (Alfândega) checks the vehicle and signs off the permit.
7. Expect another check on the way out. Police may pull you over and inspect the car before you leave the border area.

Do every step yourself. People will offer to help with forms or skip a queue. Don’t hand your passport or car papers to anyone who isn’t behind an official counter.

Kosi Bay / Ponta do Ouro: the coastal crossing

Kosi Bay, at the top of KwaZulu-Natal, is the border for Ponta do Ouro and the shortest road between Durban and Maputo. It’s about 470 km from Durban and 670 km from Johannesburg, per Maputo National Park, and much quieter than Lebombo outside the holidays.

Hours. 08:00 to 17:00 on a normal day. The post opens longer over the peaks — 06:00 to 20:00 from 15 December 2025 to 15 January 2026, and 06:00 to 18:00 over Easter 2026 — but those extensions are announced each season, so check before you count on them.

The road. From the border, the tar runs north to Maputo over the Katembe bridge. The sand starts when you turn off for Ponta do Ouro’s lodges and the coast south of it, and Maputo National Park “highly recommends” a 4x4 for those. Ask your accommodation how their road is before you decide what to drive.

Giriyondo and Pafuri: crossing from Kruger

Giriyondo and Pafuri are the two borders inside Kruger National Park, and they take you straight into Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park. Together the two parks form part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. They’re the most beautiful way into Mozambique, and the most demanding.

4x4 only. SANParks lists Giriyondo as open to 4x4 vehicles only, with no commercial traffic and nothing over a 4-tonne axle load. Expect a long stretch of dirt road through Limpopo National Park on the Mozambican side. Pafuri, in the far north, is more remote still.

The overnight rule. You must spend at least one night in Kruger or Limpopo National Park directly before or after the crossing, and show proof of the booking. Without it, SANParks says you’ll be refused.

Trailers are allowed at your own risk, with the trailer’s registration papers and its own Mozambican third-party insurance. You can buy that insurance before you go or in Massingir.

Hours. Giriyondo is open 08:00–16:00 from October to March and 08:00–15:00 from April to September; Pafuri 08:00–16:00. Both close early enough that a late start from the camp means a night on the wrong side.

Floods close them. In 2026 Giriyondo was shut for about three months by flood damage and reopened on 31 March; both posts were closed again on 16 March as the rivers rose. In the rainy season, call the post before you plan around it.

Crossing through Eswatini

Eswatini has two road borders with Mozambique: Mhlumeni / Goba, open 24 hours, and Lomahasha / Namaacha, open 07:00 to 20:00. Goba is about 80 km west of Maputo. Going through Eswatini adds a country and two more border posts to the trip, but it’s a good route if you’re visiting Eswatini anyway — and Mhlumeni’s 24-hour hours make it the safer bet if you’re running late.

From South Africa into Eswatini, the posts closest to the Mozambique side are Golela (07:00–22:00), Mananga (07:00–18:00) and Jeppe’s Reef (07:00–20:00), per the Border Management Authority.

What you need at the border

You need two sets of documents: one for the people and one for the car. A visa or ETA covers you and says nothing about the vehicle, which goes through customs separately.

For everyone in the car:

• A passport valid for at least six months after you arrive, with two blank pages (UK government travel advice).
• An ETA or visa, unless you hold a South African passport — South Africans are visa-exempt for 30 days, per Mozambique’s official e-visa portal. Some road borders still process an ETA at the post, but get it online before you leave; it’s the only way to be sure you won’t have a problem. Our visa guide has the rule for every passport.
• Children under 18: an unabridged birth certificate naming both parents. If a child is travelling with one parent or neither, bring a notarised consent affidavit from the absent parent(s), dated within the last three months.

For the car:

• The original registration papers. Police don’t accept copies or photos, per UK government travel advice — carry the originals plus certified copies.
• A letter from the owner if the car isn’t registered in your name, or from the bank if it’s financed.
• Rental cars: written cross-border permission from the rental company, arranged before you book. Our self-drive guide covers what South African rental companies typically allow.
• The temporary import permit (DA 341). You fill in the form on the South African side and pay for the permit on the Mozambican side.
• Mozambican third-party insurance, which is compulsory. You can buy it at most land borders or online before you go. Trailers need their own.
• Two warning triangles and two reflective vests. A vest must be worn if you stop to repair, load or unload at the roadside, and police can fine you on the spot if the kit is missing.
• Nothing loose on the seats. Only passengers sit on the seats — luggage and shopping go in the boot.

Money and goods: what you can bring

Mozambique asks you to declare cash of 10,000 meticais or more, or foreign currency worth US$5,000 or more, per UK government travel advice. On the way out of South Africa, you can carry up to R100,000 in rand notes under the Reserve Bank’s 2026 exchange-control rules.

Food and drink allowances are small. SANParks’ guidance for the Kruger crossings puts it at US$50 of food per person every 30 days, including one litre of spirits, two bottles of wine and 200 cigarettes, with duty on anything above that. If you’re carrying a lot of food, drink or anything unusual, check with Mozambican customs before you pack.

Other countries that border Mozambique

Mozambique shares land borders with six countries: South Africa, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. The crossings into Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania are long-haul overland routes rather than holiday ones, and their hours and conditions change. Check them with the border authority of the country you’re leaving. Our Mozambique geography guide covers where each neighbour sits.

Common questions

Where to go next

Once you’re across, the drive north is the easy part — and if you’d rather not do the border at all, we run private transfers across Lebombo to Johannesburg, Nelspruit and Kruger, across Kosi Bay to Durban, and through Goba to Mbabane.

Still not sure?

Borders change faster than guidebooks. If you’re not sure which crossing fits your route, or what your car needs, send us a message on WhatsApp — tell us where you’re starting and what you’re driving, and we’ll point you at the right post.

Last reviewed: 8 October 2026. Hours, phone numbers and posts were checked against the Border Management Authority, SANParks and Maputo National Park on that date; Lebombo’s hours are as the BMA stated them in April 2026. Sources: Border Management Authority — South African Ports of Entry, SANParks — Giriyondo access point, Maputo National Park, gov.uk travel advice for Mozambique, evisa.gov.mz (official), TRAC N4 toll fees, South African Reserve Bank, Exchange Control Circular 8/2026, SAnews on the one-stop border post, Government of Eswatini (Mhlumeni and Lomahasha hours), and DriveMoz members’ accounts of the crossing.