Cape Town - SA Revenue Service (Sars) customs officers have seized what are thought to be counterfeit sneakers and sandals with an estimated value of R3 million at the Lebombo border post with Mozambique.
The border post customs Detector Dog Unit (DDU) searched a truck with two trailers that was entering South Africa and on board found 5 237 pairs of various branded and possibly counterfeit shoes and sandals.
The items were found loaded in the back of the truck’s trailers and handed over to the South African Customs state warehouse for further processing and engagement with the relevant brand holders for confirmation of the authenticity of the items.
Sars commissioner Edward Kieswetter congratulated the customs officers and the DDU for their vigilance in preventing illicit and counterfeit goods from entering the country.
He said Sars has shown once again that it was playing its part to foster industrial growth and job creation.
Kieswetter said Sars was determined to give meaning to its strategic objectives of making non-compliance hard and costly for any person who breaks the law.
“While we have made it easy and simple to comply, we will not tolerate criminals and syndicates that impede the economic prosperity of our country and the well-being of our citizens.”
During a recent webinar hosted by the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) on illicit goods, the recently appointed chairperson of the Companies Tribunal, Judge Dennis Davis, estimated that the tax gap associated with the illicit trade amounted to more than R100 billion a year.
Davis said that apart from the well-known examples of illicit trade in cigarettes and alcohol, he received calls on a daily basis from business people complaining that their businesses were being “vitally affected” by illegal goods being deposited in the country.
“We’re in serious trouble. Unless there’s the political will to curb rent-seeking and attack head-on a project which has been going on for years, before state capture, I worry that the illicit economy will just continue to overwhelm society.”
CGCSA’s Consumer Goods Risk Initiative’s Abraham Nelson urged members of the public to report illicit trade on the CGCSA’s illicit crime hotline on 0800 014 856.
Nelson said intelligence provided by communities helped the authorities to interdict illicit goods.
“I’m saying it’s not just the responsibility of the police or Sars to fight crime, we have the responsibility as citizens to help them.”