Serving international removals, relocation and shipping from the UK to Sandton, Gauteng. Sandton
Sandton is where most corporate relocations to Gauteng actually land, and it is a different move from the rest of Johannesburg. The addresses are largely high rise or estate, the buildings run their own access rules, and the single biggest scheduling factor is whether the service lift is booked.
Buildings around Sandton City, Rivonia Road and the Gautrain station generally require a lift booking, a loading bay slot and often a certificate of insurance lodged with management before the crew arrives. None of that is difficult. All of it takes days rather than hours, so it belongs at survey stage.
Corporate moves here often run to a fixed start date, which makes the sea leg the risk. A container that clears at Durban a week late has nowhere to go, and paying for storage in Gauteng while a lease sits empty is the outcome nobody plans for.
International Removals Companies is a free enquiry matching service operated by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, company 07425576. It does not carry out removals of any kind. The work is done by the network firm you are matched with, a single vetted mover picked for the job, with another taking over if the dates will not work.
Goods clear at Durban and run inland on the N3, then north through Johannesburg. The last few kilometres are the slow part: Rivonia Road, Katherine Street and the William Nicol approach all congest badly, and a delivery booked into the afternoon peak can lose more time in Sandton than it did on the N3.
The towers around Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square. Service lift booking, loading bay slot and building insurance paperwork are all normally required. Some buildings restrict removals to specific weekdays entirely.
A mix of townhouse complexes and freestanding houses behind walls. Complexes usually have a single access gate and limits on vehicle length, and many will not admit a lorry at weekends.
Larger properties on bigger stands, generally the most straightforward access in the area. Estate registration for the crew is still normal and the gates want notice.
A removal van and a single man is the wrong tool for this job. Goods travel by sea in a full or shared container, and the local vehicle is only the last stage of it.
Send your UK collection address, the Sandton delivery address with any estate, complex or access notes, and a rough inventory. Send the collection point, the delivery point with anything unusual about the access, and a rough list. It reaches one vetted network firm working this route. They contact you, survey the move and confirm the quote. It is free, with no obligation.
Get your free Sandton removals quoteHousehold effects entering South Africa on a permanent change of residence qualify for relief from duty and VAT under rebate item 407.06 of Schedule No 4 to the Customs and Excise Act. VAT is 15 per cent, so the relief is worth claiming properly. Motor vehicles, alcohol and tobacco are excluded from it.
The entry needs form DA 304 with form P1.160 and a specified inventory of the container contents. Returning South African residents must show at least six months abroad for reasons other than touring or studying. Nothing under the rebate may be sold or disposed of within six months of clearance without the duty falling due.
The Gautrain runs from Sandton to the airport and to Pretoria, which matters if you are arriving before your goods. It does not affect the delivery, but it changes how bearable the gap is between landing and unpacking.
Corporate tenancies here often start on the first of the month and building management gets busy accordingly. If your dates are flexible by even a few days, the middle of a month is easier to book than either end.
Source: SARS Schedule No 4 to the Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964, published version dated 12 June 2026. Check current requirements at sars.gov.za before shipping.
Choose a moving company on the route, not on the quote alone. Moving companies without regular volume here subcontract, and a subcontracted mover has no stake in how the day goes. Network membership requires FIDI FAIM certification, which Ernst & Young audits against two hundred criteria and more. Alongside that sit BAR Overseas, IAM, EUROMOVERS and FEDEMAC memberships. We are a Working Member of AGM Group.
The firm matched to you handles the export packing, the sea freight, the SARS entry and the delivery in Sandton as one job rather than four.
Currency exchange comes with the service through our partners: experts in currency exchange, no hidden fees, five star consumer ratings and competitive exchange rates. Rand transfers usually need arranging before completion, so it is worth starting early.
Days rather than hours, and longer at the start and end of a month when tenancies turn over. Most buildings want the booking, a loading bay slot and sometimes a certificate of insurance from the mover lodged with management first. Ask the building for its requirements as soon as you have a lease, and pass them to your mover before the survey rather than after.
Structurally, yes. Most of Johannesburg is walled houses where the constraint is the gate. Sandton is towers and complexes where the constraint is the building's own rules. The sea leg and the inland run from Durban are identical. Everything after the vehicle arrives is not, and that is the part that gets underestimated.
Often not. A good many Sandton buildings restrict removals to weekday working hours, and some complexes prohibit lorry access at weekends entirely. Where weekend access is allowed it is usually Saturday morning only. Confirm with building management before you fix a flight or a lease start date.
Storage, which is the expensive answer. Sea freight timing on this route is not precise and a corporate start date is. If the two are close together, ask your mover about storage in advance so it is priced rather than arranged in a hurry. Clearing at Durban and holding there is sometimes cheaper than holding in Gauteng.
Volume and container choice first, then the inland leg from Durban, then the building. A tenth floor flat with a booked service lift and a loading bay is straightforward. The same load into a complex with a single narrow gate is not. We do not publish a price. The moving company matched to your enquiry confirms it after surveying the goods and the building.
DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, company 07425576, ICO ZB022743. Norman House, Saint Saviours Estate, Abbey Street, London, SE1 3DH. Founded November 2010. Working Member of AGM Group since 2010.
International Removals Companies is a free enquiry matching service and does not carry out removals. Each enquiry is connected with one vetted network firm. Certification is FIDI FAIM, audited by Ernst & Young against more than two hundred criteria, alongside BAR Overseas, IAM, EUROMOVERS and FEDEMAC.
Reviewed by Darren Benjamin, Founder, International Removals Companies. Customs and registration rules change. Confirm current requirements with SARS and the Department of Home Affairs before you ship.