Government\u2019s renewed vigour to eliminate illegal tobacco imports and exports will be demonstrated on Friday when a multi-department operation will see 12 million cigarettes being destroyed.<\/p>\n
The consignment, which has a R18 million market value will be destroyed at the State Warehouse, at no.9 FW de Klerk Boulevard, Cape Town Foreshore at 8am.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) said the cigarettes would be shredded on-site, with due regard to health and safety protocols.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe waste will then be transferred via a conveyor belt to special trucks and removed under supervision to a secured landfill site,\u201d said the revenue collector on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The illegal cigarettes were seized in various operations, including the seizure of a 40-foot container smuggled into the country and falsely declared as another commodity. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe clampdown on illicit imports and exports is a major focus of government under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) on Illicit Trade, which consists of several government departments and agencies,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The IAWG focuses on illegal clothing, textiles, footwear, leather, infrastructure sold as scrap metal, as well as second hand motor vehicles.<\/p>\n
SARS said the destruction of the illegal goods must send a strong message that government has adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards illegal trade and to sensitise the public about the harm that these goods do to the economy and the health of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch illegal activities destroy the country\u2019s manufacturing capacity, which in turn leads to unemployment, inequality and poverty. Illegal imports and exports are also a source of funding for criminal syndicates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fight against the scourge of illegal imports and exports is also of major importance because it reduces the amount of revenue that SARS collects.\u201d<\/p>\n
The revenue generated said SARS, plays an important role in enabling government to build a capable state that provides basic services to poor and vulnerable individuals and households, as well as relief to employers and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Government\u2019s renewed vigour to eliminate illegal tobacco imports and exports will be demonstrated on Friday when a multi-department operation will see 12 million cigarettes being destroyed. The consignment, which has a R18 million market value will be destroyed at the State Warehouse, at no.9 FW de Klerk Boulevard, Cape Town Foreshore at 8am. In a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-185559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-sanews","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}