FINANCING A CAR AS A FOREIGNER IN SOUTH AFRICA- MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

Disclaimer, I don’t consider myself an expert. I suggest you consult experts such as a financial advisor, vehicle dealers etc. I am writing this from my own personal experiences. I worked for almost 10 years in the insurance industry in Zimbabwe handling motor insurance among other classes of insurance including underwriting and claims as an underwriter, claims examiner, Insurance broking junior manager (account executive), underwriting manager, client manager and branch manager. I also worked for 10 years in South Africa doing motor insurance for both personal and business and I also briefly worked as an Acting-Team Manager Motor Insurance Claims. For the last 17 months I have been doing mainly personal insurance non-motor insurance insurance claims with occasional motor theft claims that accompanies a home robbery. As part of my Insurance Associateship examinations with the Insurance Institute of South Africa in 2003 I did major in motor insurance. For my Fellowship examinations in 2005 I studied Risk Management that also helped me to run self-insurance products especially Aggregate Excess that big fleet owners rely on to manage vehicle insurance risks. I also graduated with a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences degree.

This morning, I posted on Facebook about my experience in financing my very first car when I arrived in South Africa in 2007 and a few of the challenges I faced. It dawned on me that a lot of foreigners are facing the same challenges I faced when I arrived in South Africa in 2007. Generally in South Africa credit is well regulated and one finds that it is cheaper to finance a car in South Africa than say in Zimbabwe. In South Africa you can finance a car at an annual interest rate of less than 10%. Given the fact that South Africa does not allow one to import cheap Japanese used vehicles like most other SADC countries, vehicles are generally expensive in South Africa. If you are looking for a vehicle that is less than 5 years old, it might be difficult to buy it cash due to the huge cost. Also when one’s work permit has expired your country of origin may allow you to bring in your vehicle duty free and this is a huge incentive for Zimbabweans where custom duties for private vehicles and double cab bakkies is almost 100% of the value. A person should finance a vehicle with a reasonably high value if the intention is to utilise the returning resident duty waiver. Generally a used South African assembled vehicle fetches a higher value in Zimbabwe due to the availability of spare parts in South Africa.

We all know that South Africa has one of the highest rates of fraud and car thefts in Southern Africa. For that reason I prefer buying a vehicle on finance than cash, however I have bought two vehicles cash from people I knew personally. A vehicle finance company will not pay over the amount to the vehicle dealer unless the vehicle’s paperwork is in order. That way you protect yourself from many risks such as buying a stolen car or a rebuilt car code 3 (I will explain later what this means). If you are a foreigner like myself, you will occasionally drive the vehicle across the border and at the border they will always check your vehicle on both sides of the border to see if it was tampered with or whether it was stolen. It is also not advisable to permanently bring in a foreign registered vehicle as that makes you a target. I know a few friends who lost or there was attempted theft and damages to their foreign registered vehicles in South Africa. A few years ago my sister and my brother in-law had their Zimbabwean registered Toyota Landcruiser Prado stolen from a hotel in Kempton Park. When we viewed the CCTV footage it was clear that the security guard was involved as you could see him clearly allowing the thieves’ vehicle to block the boom whilst the Prado passed through at the same time.

Before you finance a car you will need credit references. So you will need to open an account e.g. a clothing account. Because most foreigners don’t have a South African ID number that is used to show your credit profile hence credit references will be vital. You will need to get an International Driving permit. If you are in Zimbabwe you need to go to AA Zimbabwe with your original Zimbabwean drivers’ licence and two passport photos and you need to pay a fee and they will issue you with an international driving permit that is normally valid for three years. The vehicle finance company will only consider the International Driving Permit and not your original licenced issued in your country of origion. In South Africa you need to go to the licensing department at selected offices and apply for a traffic register number. You will need your passport together with the valid work permit, proof of address and two passport photos. In South Africa your vehicle and your driver’s licence if you wish to take a South African driver’s licence is linked to your South African ID. Now as a foreigner without a South African ID number, your traffic register number is like your ID number for traffic purposes.

I always find it easier to first apply for finance directly through the bank and once I get the approval, I will then approach a car dealer. A lot of car dealers are clueless when it comes to vehicle financing for foreigners. Luckily some big dealers have bank employees based on their sites. Some vehicle finance companies don’t give vehicle finance to foreigners. You will also need to purchase comprehensive insurance. On insurance I refer you to this blog I wrote 2 years ago (

http://kanyokad.blogspot.com/2017/10/response-to-nicolette.html) I will add again that it is imperative that you answer all the insurance questions truthfully and disclose that you are using a foreign driver’s licence. If you had insurance cover in your country before you came to South Africa mention it also to your insurance company as they can consider this experience for the purpose of giving you discount on your insurance.

Some useful hints

If you intend to utilize the returning residents duty waiver option, make it a habit to always ask custom officials on what is required. I have leant that every time you have your passport stamped make sure sure you ask the immigration officer to stamp your passport correctly when entering Zimbabwe, they are quick to stamp and initial R/R meaning Returning Resident. You need to make sure that if you have a permit every time you enter Zimbabwe you ask the official to write the number of days you will be in Zimbabwe and not to initial R/R because the day you decide to utilise the duty free option you might run into troubles with the custom officials as they will ask to go through your passport to make sure that you did not utilise the benefit in the recent past.

In South Africa almost 99,9% of all the vehicles are either made in South Africa or were first registered brand new in South Africa. Once a vehicle has been used it becomes a code 2 vehicle. Should that vehicle be involved in a serious incident it can be de-registered. Some people will buy those vehicle and repair them and even after it has been repaired it will become a code 3 or Rebuilt. When you are buying a vehicle for cash always check on this status because if it is a Rebuilt vehicle insist on a discount because in the event of a total loss claim, your insurance company may only pay you say 70% of value. Also check the date of Liability on the registration documents as a lot of people will misrepresent the year when the vehicle was first registered. Imagine if you buy a vehicle that was misrepresented by the seller as 2015 and it turns out it is a 2012 model. Not only will you have have paid an inflated purchase, you would stand to lose out should you want to resale the vehicle or should you have to make an insurance claim in the event your vehicle is stolen or damaged.

I hope this helps.

Cheers.

12 YEARS AS A FOREIGNER IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY

I had always said I would never leave Zimbabwe. From 1998 to 1999 when my cousin and many of my workmates left mainly for UK, Canada and New Zealand, my first passport had not yet expired but I never considered leaving Zimbabwe. I was still optimistic of the future in Zimbabwe. In 1996 I was working as a temporary teacher and I decided to study accounting with CIMA-UK even though I had done sciences at A Level. At the end of 1997 when the Zim dollar lost its value and I could no longer raise the British Pounds required for my studies.

At the end of 1997 I joined Eagle Insurance Company in Harare, fortunately the company provided study loans. In 1998 after passing the Certificate of Proficiency then the only short-term insurance course offered by Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe, I then enrolled with Insurance Institute of South Africa. I got the loan from the company and went to Barclays Bank to get the bank draft for the South African Rands. My studies were my first priority.

After repaying the study loan installment, I didn’t have much money left😢1998 was a tough year for me as trainees we never got any salary increase because the bosses insisted that we were not yet experienced and still learning the job. I remember one Saturday when I visited a work colleague Victor Chibwe at his house in Zengeza, I really envied him as his house was well furnished. I had only bought myself a bed and a small colour TV I had bought on installment from Meikles I had send it to my mother after the first black and white tv I had first bought her had stopped working.

If you really wanted to become a manager in the Zimbabwe Insurance industry you needed to pass Associateship exams. I became a manager at the end of 2002 and completed my Associateship exams the following year. In 2005 I completed my Fellowship exams and also briefly enrolled for the 3 year MBA with Open Learning Centre in Harare. In early 2006, I joined the Society of Fellows in Harare and we had our first meeting at Harare club. In April 2006 I was transferred to Bulawayo and became the branch manager.

After Easter holidays in 2007, due to the ravaging inflation it made no sense to keep on working, I decided to resign and concentrate on my own personal business. My business included 4 general dealer shops in Virginia Macheke and Hoyuyu Resettlements in Mutoko, my 7 tonne Bedford truck and a Toyota minibus taxi. I was very unlucky because whilst I was serving my three months notice, Robert Mugabe’s government unleashed the Price Control Blitz and I lot tens of thousands of Rands. The economic situation became worse.

In July 2007, I reluctantly applied for a South African work permit. I went to the South African embassy in Harare on 22 August 2007 and I opened my passport and saw that I had been granted a 5 year permit. I would arrive in South Africa the next day and started working in the Insurance industry. I discovered that most companies did not employ foreigners. I even went for a few internal interviews I blogged about my experience on that (http://kanyokad.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-power-of-introverts.html?m=1). 

As a foreigner I got used a lot to the word NO!Within a few years I discovered that I was playing a rigged game and I stopped applying. Qualifications and experience does not count for much. When employment agents phone me, I tell them upfront to find out if they will accept foreigners as qualifications and experience don’t really matter that much in this market. Even renting an apartment as a foreigner you are required to pay double the deposit. Around 2008-2009 we once got a bargain to purchase a 3 bedroom apartment in Centurion going for R400 000, we put in our offer and it was accepted and we then applied for home loan with my bank and the answer was for foreigners we require 50% deposit.

South Africa has big challenges when it comes to transformation and the reality is the local natives are still a long way from making it even 25 years after attainment of political freedom. The way I see it us foreigners we are orphans who have been adopted by uncles and aunts where our cousins are also battling under the yoke of in-equality. We can only make it after they have also succeeded.

I still hope to go back home, I have tried to invest back home even though it does not make financial sense to put money in Zimbabwe. The main reason I have endured is the dire economic situation back in Zimbabwe. I have gone home to vote in all the elections from 2008, 2013 and 2018. As it is there is no hope in Zimbabwe and I see those who can afford to leave leaving.

LESSONS FROM MY MOTHER:- SHOWING UP EARLY EVERY DAY

This Women’s Month, I am also remembering my mum she has been gone for 17 years and she is not forgotten. 

This morning our 7 year old son came to the lounge after 5:30am and I told him to go back to bed. You see he is unlike his mother, he is an early riser like his dad🙈. Even last night we had to force him to go to bed early. So after 6am he comes back to the lounge. He sits next to me and he says, “Daddy my teacher says if you are sick you must not come to school.” I look up from my book and say ok. I am wondering to myself who is sick because you are not sick. I didn’t swallow the bait. I was not born yesterday🤣. I suspected that it was just Monday Blues.

He went on to log on to the computer and started playing his game for a few minutes before preparing for school. He then tells the same story to his mother. We look at each other. When you have a toddler you monitor a lot of things eg their appetite, body temperature, change of behavior such as are they playing like their usual normal etc. Most of the time you don’t need a kid to tell you they are sick as you always find out on your own. We tell him you are not staying home today . 

When I was growing up my mother was so strict, the only time I missed school was when I was admitted in hospital. Almost every year I would come down with malaria and tonsillitis. I would travel by bus from Amaveni Township to Kwekwe General hospital and at times I would be admitted. With tonsillitis I would be required to come back for the next few days for injections (Eish). So like most township schools we had hot sitting where another grade uses the classroom in the morning and another in the afternoon. 

In the morning I would take the direct bus to Kwekwe General Hospital and after the injection, I would walk to town in order to save the money for use during break time at school ( You see I knew money from a young age🙈). I would then go to school from the second day onwards. My mum also insisted that we wake up very in morning even on weekends or during school holidays. It was later as an adult when I started appreciating what she did for me by teaching me this.

When I came to South Africa at the end of August 2007, I joined my employer in Pretoria in September 2007 and worked for 10 years and one month before resigning to run my own hustle. In those 10 years I worked there, I only took 2 days sick leave. I have been fortunate that I have not been admitted in hospital for 25 years now. The last time I was admitted in hospital was during Lower 6 at Marondera High School during the winter of 1994. I had been cycling to school during the harsh winter in Marondera. I developed pneumonia and I was admitted at Marondera General Hospital.

Many of us don’t like Mondays and for me the turning point was when I joined Zimbabwe Insurance Brokers at the end of 2002. Every Monday morning started with a management meeting in the boardroom chaired by the General Manager- Retail Broking. My boss Mr John Mapani would expect you be well prepared and present your team’s report and be prepared to answer questions on the age analysis report.

When I joined my employer in Pretoria in September 2007, like in all claims departments of Insurance companies Mondays are extremely busy. We get paid based on your performance so you can’t afford to relax on Monday otherwise everyone will leave you behind and you won’t be able to catch up. Other weekends I would drive to Harare and due to the delays at Beitbridge border post, I would only arrive in Pretoria early Monday morning and I would proceed to go to work. 

When I was self-employed it was even worse, I would leave the house around 6am and run to the train station, I would arrive back home around 7pm and do that for 7 days a week. There was a day when I went to carry a load for a client in Pretoria East whilst loading the client asked if I could carry another load to Wedza, Zimbabwe that day. By 8pm I was on my way to Zimbabwe and would come back two days later.

I am very grateful for the mentorship I got from my mother as well as all the mentors I met in my career journey over the last 23 years. The most transformational figure in my career is Ms Tendai Chingovo she was my boss at AIG Zimbabwe and she taught me two important lessons:- 

1) You work for yourself and not the company 

2) Do excellent work always and someone will notice, that someone can be a manager from another section, a competitor, a client etc

Due to challenges that come with being a foreigner where your experience and your qualifications don’t really count for much, it has been a challenge to apply the advice but I did so nevertheless.

I came back to work in April last year ( One day I will blog about my 6months of self-employment). Since December 2018, I have worked overtime on Boxing Day, New Years Day, Easter holiday, Youth Day and I normally work overtime every Saturday. 

I meet a lot of people who aspire to run their own businesses and I give them the same advice. Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey however it is not an impossible journey, before you start your own business start by being an excellent employee because the qualities you need to be a good employee are the same you need when running your own business i.e working extra hard, treating customers fairly, positive attitude, having good interpersonal skills etc

WHO KNEW THAT ANYONE COULD BE WORSE THAN MUGABE?

In August 2017, I wrote in my blog about the history of violence in Zimbabwe. Towards 1985 general election my family stayed at Amaveni Police where my father was working as a police officer. One morning on my way to school, I saw on the tarred road leading from the main gate to the charge office there was so much blood on the road. I asked my mum about it and she  told me that it was blood of perceived supporters of then Joshua Nkomo’s led PF-ZAPU. Kwekwe has a sizable number of Ndebele speakers. These supporters would run to the police but we all know that the police is powerless when it comes to matters to do with ZANU-PF.

Our member of parliament for Kwekwe then was none other than the current president Emmerson Mnangagwa. We had always discussed and believed anyone who takes over from Robert Mugabe would not do any worse. So on Saturday 18 November 2017 when protests to force Robert Mugabe to resign during the coup were announced, I flew from Johannesburg to Harare that morning in order to join the march. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans of all races marched to state house and we demanded that Robert Mugabe should resign.

After the coup we were shocked when instead of putting together a government of national unity to sort out the economy, ZANU-PF called for an election in 8 months time. Towards the elections the economy became worse and the same middle class and working class that had supported the coup became disillusioned with Mnangagwa’s government and voted MDC Alliance. When I travelled to Harare for the 30th of July elections, I had also planned to vote for MDC Alliance that was until the evening of 29 July when we got back into Harare from Mutoko where we had gone to monitor our tobacco seedlings and caught up with news that Mugabe had endorsed Nelson Chamisa. I was not happy with that because since 1997 we had demanded that Mugabe must go and the reason why some of us were now foreigners was due to Mugabe’s policies. That level of political prostitution is nauseating.

On Election Day I voted for ZANU PF for the first time since 2000. After elections, we saw the heavy handed ness of soldiers on 1 August 2018. The president appointed Professor Mthuli Ncube as Finance Minister and I cheered this move and I even wrote a blog about it that time. Things got worse and after spending thousands of dollars to prepare for the tobacco farming, we decided to cut our losses and stop tobacco farming due to the currency issues.

Ever since the coup the economy has been on downwards spiral. I am sorry about my part in supporting, defending and even voting for this regime. It seems to me that Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa is cursed, he had so much goodwill from millions of citizens in Zimbabwe, those in the diaspora as well as the international community and he has squandered that. Who thought that anyone could be worse than Mugabe🤷🏿‍♂️