Police Minister Bheki Cele has called for more stringent border control at ports of entry to crack down on fraudulent goods entering South Africa.
During his keynote address at the 13th International Law Enforcement Intellectual Property Crime conference in Cape Town on Tuesday, Cele said the South African Police Service (SAPS) was working hand in hand with other law enforcement agencies to clamp down on illegal goods smugglers.
"We are working with other law enforcement officials such as home affairs, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) on the border to try and stop those items before they even enter the country," he said.
"We do it (crackdowns) almost every Thursday."
More than R235m worth of goods have been seized over the last few months. Cele said the majority had entered through shipping terminals.
"One thing we have looked at is why we find these items in Johannesburg when they clearly come via ships … so we are increasing our awareness along the big ports, which include Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Richards Bay.”
The conference - now in its 13th year and making its first appearance on the African continent - was themed "Fighting IP crime through innovation and cooperation" and ended yesterday. More than 500 delegates from 80 countries attended the two-day event.
