Buying car parts from Dubai for South Africa

Not freely, and this is the first thing to settle before any price is discussed. ITAC, the International Trade Administration Commission, states that an import permit is required for all used or second-hand goods, and its published guideline on used vehicles, engines, gearboxes and spares sets out who can get one. A buyer ordering used body or mechanical parts for cars and light vans to sell on will find that the guideline makes no provision for that.

ITAC advises anyone who intends to import used parts to apply for the permit before placing an order, buying or shipping. Where the applicant clearly qualifies and the papers are in order, it says permits are issued in an average of four to five working days, and other cases take longer. ITAC charges no fee, although SARS duty is still payable on the goods.

The guideline gives its reasons. Used goods raise safety, health, environmental and quality issues, it says, and vehicles are made or assembled in South Africa by a sector whose assembly and component work employs about 124,000 people and contributes about 20% of total manufacturing, so strict control applies. It also says it may change without notice, and the copy on ITAC's site carries a January 2016 date, so confirm the current position with ITAC or a clearing agent.

For most readers there are two workable routes. The first is new or aftermarket parts, which sit outside the used-goods permit and go through ordinary customs clearance. The second is a used engine or gearbox bought by a company that holds, or is applying for, an ITAC permit, which must be in hand before the part is collected. A used body panel, wing mirror or suspension part for resale is not something the guideline provides for, and we will not suggest a way around that.

If you are unsure which side of the line a part falls on, send the part and your plan for it. For a used part, expect the parts desk to ask for your ITAC permit number before the quote goes any further. Permits are the buyer's to obtain: Easy Auto does not apply for them and cannot clear goods into South Africa.

Clearing runs through SARS Customs, which requires an importer to register and obtain an importer's code. The US Commerce Department's guide to South African import requirements, updated on 30 June 2026, lists bills of lading, a commercial invoice with full product descriptions and packing lists for a sea shipment, and notes that permits are still needed for most used or second-hand items.

South Africa's tariff has a General column and preferential columns for the EU and UK, EFTA, SADC, MERCOSUR and the African free trade area. None of them names the UAE, so the General rate is the one to plan on for parts from Dubai. The table gives the General rate on common parts from the SARS tariff book dated 28 August 2026. Your clearing agent confirms the tariff line, which turns on exactly what the part is.

VAT at 15% comes on top. SARS builds the base by adding 10% to the customs value and then adding the duty, and the 15% applies to that total. As arithmetic only: a part with a customs value of 10,000 and 20% duty pays 2,000 in duty, then 15% of 13,000, which is 1,950, so duty and VAT together come to 3,950 or 39.5% of the customs value. A duty-free engine pays 15% of 11,000, which is 1,650.

Easy Auto does not ship to South Africa. The parts come from UAE stock and the Sharjah and Dubai parts markets and yards, and your own cargo agent or forwarder collects them in Dubai and ships them on, so freight, insurance and clearing are between you and that agent. If you have none, ask the clearing agent at the South African end which Dubai agents they already work with.

By sea the usual destination is Durban, described as the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa. Timetables differ by carrier: one Maersk loop that calls at Jebel Ali, Mundra, Nhava Sheva and Colombo before Durban shows 24 days from Jebel Ali to Durban, port to port. That is sailing time and not a delivery date, because loading, unloading, clearing and the road leg come on top. We give no delivery times.

Express courier is the other route and it is costly. DHL Express lists a 12 kg parcel from the UAE to South Africa, which falls in its zone 7, at AED 3,146.71 in its 2026 guide, before fuel surcharge, duty and tax. That is why heavy parts go by sea and only small, valuable ones travel by air.

South African searchers pair Dubai with makes rather than part types. With the country set to South Africa, Google's autocomplete on 7 October 2026 finished "toyota parts from d", "lexus parts from d", "bmw parts from d" and "subaru parts from d" as parts from Dubai, and it offered "land cruiser spares durban" for a Land Cruiser search. The same endings appear for other countries, so this shows how the search is phrased, not how many people make it.

UAE customs data published through UN Comtrade records US$21.33 million of vehicle parts and accessories exported to South Africa in 2024, though it does not say how much was new or used. The attraction is a part the local dealer lacks or prices high. The catch is that a model name does not guarantee the same part, because a car sold in the Gulf can carry different sensors, emissions equipment and trim, so the VIN settles it before any price.

Lighting shows the trap best. South Africa drives on the left and the UAE on the right, and most dipped-beam headlamps are made for one direction of traffic only. A lamp from a UAE-market car therefore throws its dipped beam towards the wrong side of a South African road unless its markings say it suits left-hand traffic or both. Ask for that marking before you pay.

Given the permit rule, the practical South African list is new and aftermarket stock: brake components, suspension arms and links, filters, belts, ignition parts, lamps marked for left-hand traffic and cooling parts. Heavy items such as engines and gearboxes move by sea through your agent and, if used, need the permit first.

We do not arrange wet or lithium batteries, airbags and pretensioners, gas struts, fluids or undrained engines for export. They need dangerous-goods handling that courier and air routes do not offer, and that handling is not in place. A quote for one of them will not come from this desk.

A workshop or parts counter buying new stock can ask for a price list instead of a single part. Minimum quantities and mixed-supplier orders are set out on the wholesale page. Whatever the mix, the importer of record is you or your clearing agent, and the SARS importer's code has to exist before anything is declared.

Send the make, model, year and VIN, a photo of the old part and any number printed on it. Say whether you want new, aftermarket or used. For a used engine or gearbox add your ITAC permit number, or say you are still applying. A trader should add the SARS importer's code and the name of the clearing agent. A person on the parts desk replies with a quote and confirms how to pay there.