Fake cigarettes, lightening creams, condoms, and illegal medications were confiscated and more than 50 undocumented foreign nationals were also arrested during a raid in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
The KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs Nomusa Dube-Ncube says they will work around the clock to trace those dealing in and manufacturing fake goods that were seized in the Durban CBD.
Dube-Ncube says the fake goods are putting people’s lives at risk.
She says, “Here you’ve got illegal cigarettes, you’ve got illegal creams, you’ve got illegal medications. Most of these medications you can only get them through the script from the doctor, but they are being manufactured by these people…
“Our people consume these things and they don’t know, the next thing people are flocking into the hospital they don’t know why they are sick. It’s because of all these illegal things that are being sold to our people,” she added.
Millions of rands worth of counterfeit goods confiscated in Jhb CBD
Meanwhile, more than R14 million worth of counterfeit goods have been confiscated by police at the China Multiplex storage facilities in the Johannesburg CBD.
Police earlier confiscated sanitary towels and counterfeit running shoes worth R12 million in Sandringham.
Police spokesperson, Mathapelo Peters says:” With these consecutive multimillion-rand confiscations police believe the purposeful shift from focusing on illegal traders to focusing on the manufacturing and distribution points is yielding success.”
“At this point operations have led to shutting down of a number of manufactures and points of supply especially in the Johannesburg CBD. ”
