The South African border Post on way to Lesotho is situated at the foot of the Sani Pass about 8km from the Lesotho border post, located at the top of the Hill. The Sani Pass is a spectacular road with stunning surroundings and the entry point for the 'Roof of Africa' scenic route. This is the only border crossing for Kwazulu-Natal to Lesotho. You will need your passport, and although it's not a necessity visitor are advised to bring their vehicle papers with. Stamp passports at SA building. No TIP, carnet or anything else required.

06:00-18:00 (GMT+2) Time Guideline/ 7 days a week

DRIVING SANI PASS:
Driving Sani Pass very much depend on current weather and road conditions, whether you are driving up or down, and how much risk you are willing to take.

In the rainy season (October to March), the road can be very badly washed away and muddy. Driving up Sani in these conditions, can be pretty challenging, and even coming down has its challenges as you may face some deep ruts, and driving downhill on a slippery, muddy road is my worst nightmare! So a vehicle with good ground clearance, and four wheel drive, is required. Attempting the road in an ordinary 2x4 vehicle, can be done, but causes extensive damage to the road as the vehicle claws its way upwards, and smaller vehicles may be damaged on the deep ruts in the road. Having low range is recommended, as one can travel at lower speed (and more power), going uphill, and putting the vehicle in low range when coming down, gives more control on your descent, and can also act as a braking system in case of brake failure.

In wintertime, with no rain, the road conditions should be better, but Sani Pass also get some snow in winter, and when this melts, we are back to muddy conditions. If the road was not repaired after the rain, you will still encounter some bad ruts. T4A personal recommendation would be a four wheel drive with low range, a diff lock and good ground clearance – we don’t like taking chances, and always attempt to cause the least damage to the tracks we are using. In good conditions the pass can be done by an SUV with four wheel drive in high range and preferably a manual diff-lock that is engaged before attempting the pass. Automatic differential locking systems such as a viscous coupling or limited slip diff only kicks in after the vehicle has lost traction, and causes more damage to the road, and is therefore less environmentally friendly.

EMERGENCY NUMBERS:
For emergency numbers, you can phone the Police on +27(0)33702 1332; a private ambulance on +27(0)33 701 2235; the Sani Search Volunteers on +27(0)76 395 0119; or tow in services on +27(0)82 610 5597/+27(0)82 620 6634/+27(0)82 740 6137. (Mar-14).

“My comment is about the Sani Pass boarder Post South African side On the 1st November 2019, we travelled to Lesotho using 2 bakkies. The first Bakkie had 3 occupants and the second bakkie had to 2 occupants. I was the driver of the bakkie with 2 occupants. We crossed the South African boarder post Around 5h30. Unfortunately my bakkie which I was driving failed to summit and we were forced to to drive back to South Africa. We got back to the South African boarder post , the gate was closed. We did press the car hooter and the police came. When the policeman arrived, I jumped out of the bakkie and greeted the police and also explained to him that our bakkie didn’t make it, therefore we were forced to come back. Because we are from Durban, we were going to look for an accommodation around town. The Getleman said me to that I am talking to a wrong person and he does not know what I am talking about. I did apologies to him and said that I thought he was the one who was helping us while we were crossing the the boarder. The Getlemen advised us the boarder closed at 18h00 and my response to him was that I didn’t know that. We Pleaded with him to open for us and he was very very rude. He had a lot to say and insulting us. Tempers were high and eventually my friends came out of the car, to give him money because we could see that he wanted a bribe. We were caught up in no mans land. I would like to know what does the law says, once you cross the boarder, u cannot come back? Considering the location of the boarder. To my suprise , we left the South African boarder post, on our way back , we met with 2 mini bus tax and bakkie with Lesotho number plate with lots of goods. How they were going to cross to lesotho because the boarder post was closed.???? The time was around 18:30. What a bad experience with rude police. I was never impressed with police officer conduct. ” - Selemo Sefehle, 2019/12/25

“My comment is about the Sani Pass boarder Post South African side On the 1st November 2019, we travelled to Lesotho using 2 bakkies. The first Bakkie had 3 occupants and the second bakkie had to 2 occupants. I was the driver of the bakkie with 2 occupants. We crossed the South African boarder post Around 5h30. Unfortunately my bakkie which I was driving failed to summit and we were forced to to drive back to South Africa. We got back to the South African boarder post , the gate was closed. We did press the car hooter and the police came. When the policeman arrived, I jumped out of the bakkie and greeted the police and also explained to him that our bakkie didn’t make it, therefore we were forced to come back. Because we are from Durban, we were going to look for an accommodation around town. The Getleman said me to that I am talking to a wrong person and he does not know what I am talking about. I did apologies to him and said that I thought he was the one who was helping us while we were crossing the the boarder. The Getlemen advised us the boarder closed at 18h00 and my response to him was that I didn’t know that. We Pleaded with him to open for us and he was very very rude. He had a lot to say and insulting us. Tempers were high and eventually my friends came out of the car, to give him money because we could see that he wanted a bribe. We were caught up in no mans land. I would like to know what does the law says, once you cross the boarder, u cannot come back? Considering the location of the boarder. To my suprise , we left the South African boarder post, on our way back , we met with 2 mini bus tax and bakkie with Lesotho number plate with lots of goods. How they were going to cross to lesotho because the boarder post was closed.???? The time was around 18:30. What a bad experience with rude police. I was never impressed with police officer conduct. ” - Selemo Sefehle, 2019/12/25

Be the first to submit a link