Port Elizabeth
 

Greetings. I'm expecting to be in South Africa for a couple of months. Can anyone tell me if it's possible for a non resident to buy /insure and sell a used bike here. I have a Canadian/international bike license and both British and Canadian citizenship.
Many thanks for the help!

Greetings

I noticed your topic of Port Elizabeth!"!

Strange indeed as that is my old home town...
South Africa is pretty easy to get insurance in and the fact that you are from overseas should not prove to be a problem.

also in South africa, 3rd party insurance is paid for from our petrol, so effectivly everyone has a basic insurance. I dont think that being foreign should prove to be a problem. Any reason for Port Elizabeth?

cheers
Martin

Martin

Sorry it took so long to reply. I work on a ship and we've been offline for about a week with C-band access problems.
Port Elizabeth has a good flight school and I'm looking to take my PPL there. I expect I'll be in town for a couple of months. Shall I stop by your mum's place and say hi?
I've spent a few days there in and out on ships and it is truly a beautiful part of the world.

Is there a bike shop in town? And are you saying I don't need insurance there?
Kitty

you'd be more than welcome at my mothers, but unfortunately they too have moved on, and now live in Swaziland.

Port Elizabeth has a few bike shops, but the biggest and the best is Sharwoods down off the main street, (think its now called Govan Mbeki Drive) They stock just about everything you could need. I dont think its a wise idea to travel without insurance, but as far as I know, you would'nt be breaking any law that I am aware of. Perhaps it would be best to contact the SA Embassy regarding insurance. Although I am sure that you can get away with it if you so choose. The best place to get a bike in Port Elizabeth is in the classified section of the local paper, and the biggest choice is always on the weekend. (Its called the Weekend Post- and it features wonderful stories about old people who knitted jumpers and pictures of kids who can run fast for their schools--i.e a thouragly shite read!)

Depending on what you want to buy, I would think that PE will have what you need. There is not a great deal of second hand bikes, and it may be more worth your while to go to Johannesburg to have a better selection (and they wont be rusted like the local bikes)

hope that helps

martin