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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS FC’s primary sponsors BancABC have come to their rescue, paying import duty for the club’s luxurious bus acquired from South Africa.
It’s been two months since Bosso took delivery of the bus at an official presentation ceremony presided over by Vice-President Emmerson Mnanganwa at Barbourfields Stadium.
The Bulawayo giants could not use the bus because they had not registered it. They are now expected to start using it at the end of the month and their first trip will be the away league game against Whawha in Gweru.
“BancABC has paid duty for the bus but we can’t immediately start using it because paperwork is being processed. As it is DHL, who are BancABC agents are working on getting the bus registered,” said Emmet Ndlovu, Highlanders’ secretary-general.
Though Ndlovu could not be drawn into revealing how much BancABC paid to Zimra, sources said the bank could have parted with about $20,000.
The paperwork may take up to three weeks to complete, meaning that if the process is expedited they may use the coach on August 30 for the away trip to Gweru where they will take on Whawha.
Highlanders need to register the bus with Zinara through Zimra before the can get a motor vehicle registration book and number plates since the luxury coach is an import.
To get the number plates, the Bulawayo giants have to start by obtaining a police clearance from the Vehicle Theft Squad after the cops have checked with their South African counterparts that the bus was properly acquired.
This process, according to sources, takes about 24 hours.
Armed with a police clearance, the Bulawayo giants will then proceed to Zimra where they are expected to produce a customs clearance certificate, motor vehicle insurance and other documentation needed by the taxman.
Just like in getting a police clearance taking into account that all their documents are in order, Highlanders would have the plates ready, at most after two days.
The process that might take long is the application for an operator’s licence, which takes up to two weeks.
Bosso will attach passenger insurance to the operator’s licence when taking the coach to be examined by the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID), who will issue them with a road worthiness certificate if the bus has no defects.
The Bulawayo giants also need about five days to apply for a permit.
Once Highlanders begin using their bus for away matches, they will make significant savings to their limited resources and will spend an average of $400 on fuel and toll fees per trip.
At the moment, Highlanders have been using at least $1,200 to hire transport for away games.
Meanwhile, Highlanders finally received the 2015 adidas kit from their sponsors last Sunday.
“We now have new kit, we got it in Harare after the match against Dynamos which we won.
“The boys have received the bags, training kits, boots and bibs among other items. We’re grateful to BancABC for the partnership we have,” said Ndlovu.
Online Reporter