The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) welcomes today’s judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which confirms that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) acted correctly to seize 19 containers of suspiciously cheap imported clothing.

The background is as follows:

In 2020, SARS confiscated these containers, as it suspected  these goods may have been artificially and deliberately undervalued.

Undervaluation is a common strategy used by unscrupulous importers to avoid paying import taxes.

This type of customs fraud robs the fiscus  of monies owed to it.

It also deliberately circumvents the industrial and trade tools aimed at securing and growing local jobs and industry.

SACTWU applauds SARS for its reinvigorated campaign to obliterate customs fraud in the clothing, textile, footwear and leather (CTFL) industry.

We also welcome SARS’s determination, having pursued this matter up to SCA level, after it had initially lost the  case in the North Gauteng High Court.

We hope that this outcome sends a strong message to fraudsters. 

We expect that swift seizures, arrests and criminal charges will become the norm for all instances of illegal imports.

Issued by

André Kriel

SACTWU

GENERAL SECRETARY If further comment is required, kindly contact SACTWU’s National Industrial Policy Officer,  Mr Etienne Vlok, on cell number 082 4480506