The infiltration of counterfeit goods on the South African economy and the dreadful health implications on the public
The looming counterfeit goods crisis is not only a catastrophe on the South African economy but also on the health of thousands of citizens. This is besides the fact that an alarming number of food poisoning cases have been reported in hospitals around the country as a result of the consumption of counterfeit foods.
Counterfeits goods are imitation products from across various industries in tech, digital, food, textile, clothing and many more.
The widespread of counterfeit goods — the fall of the economy and the horrific impact on the health of citizens
The trading of counterfeit goods has been a long-time challenge in the history of the economy worldwide. This challenge grows rapidly in parallel to new developments in tech and the rise of the manufacturing industries. The counterfeit goods industry is in constant growth and reaping off from the economy while it grew into a multi-billion dollar industry.
By 2022 this rapidly growing industry could range from 542- 959 billion in US dollars globally leading to the loss of about 5.4 million jobs, according to the International Chamber of Commerce.
In South Africa alone, the counterfeit goods industry have made illegal profits in billions of rands. In an October 2011 it was reported that this industry was estimated at R362 billion growing at 46% annually by news24. Fast forward in 2019 the industry is estimated at the net worth of over 700 billion rands which harms legitimate business activities and lowers the country's GDP capital.
Besides the efforts by the Department of Trade and Industry’s inspection and closing down of businesses which trade counterfeit goods and the number of arrests made by the South African Police Service, the counterfeits industry continues to grow rapidly.
The news reports indicate no effective change - the situation worsens
In every reported news story regarding arrests made, street vendors continue to sell these goods in street corners freely. Locals and poor South African nationals usually at the receiving end of these fake goods, feel the pinch of these products. Amongst some of the consumable counterfeits products are fake Grandpas, bread, drinks, braai packs, and eggs.
Toxic food products produced in unregulated factories are predominantly owned by foreign nationals and sold at most of their spaza shops to citizens. Children suffer the most while being admitted in hospitals due to illnesses caused by consumption of these fake food which are and obviously toxic.
In Tembisa and other areas in the country cases of children falling ill due to consumption of fake foods particularly snacks, have been reported. In a Global Citizen report, a mother of a 12-year-old girl, Phindi from Tembisa reported that her daughter fell ill due to fake bread and this was confirmed by the doctor whom she had consulted. The physical symptoms caused are diarrhea, a cold and skin rash.
It was further reported in a 2018 local newspaper that there are more cases of children falling sick due to the consumption of fake foods daily in clinics. Today there are still many cases of the ill health caused by consumption of counterfeit goods which are life-threatening.
Eradicating the counterfeit goods — the role shamefully ignored by the department of health
While millions of South Africas had trust that the government will rid off counterfeit goods particularly the harmful food products, little or no evidence of its intervention has taken place by the department of health. After pictures and videos shared by the public on social media platforms, the department of health is still not convinced that there are fake foods products that could potentially cause harm.
These doubts were emphasized by the previous Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi who confirmed that indeed his ministry makes no zealous efforts to intervene further.
In 2018 the Citizen reported that the minister of health claimed that there was no evidence of fake food products.
“On the 8th of December, the chief director of environmental care in the department of health wrote to all the 52 district municipalities and metros in South Africa asking the environmental care practitioners to go and inspect foodstuffs all over the province in food-selling facilities and facilities that handle food,” Aaron Motsoaledi said.
Motsoaledi closed off his statement saying, “What we did not find, however, is something called a ‘fake food’ in the sense I have mentioned — rice made out of plastic, bread that does not melt in water…” he added.
Retaliation by citizens in the form of riots across townships in the country
The lack of or no effort shown by the government to take this situation seriously has left a relentless outcry from citizens to take the law into their own hands. The retaliation by citizens in between 2018 and 2019 across most townships have escalated.
The riots often result in citizens looting spaza shops in a quest to remove the counterfeit goods from the market. While most of these shops are owned by foreign nationals, the locals claim that the looting has nothing to do with xenophobic attacks — this is heard in a news comment by a local in the recent Tembisa township riot when shops owned by foreign nationals were looted.
While fake news reports claim that these are xenophobic attacks, the real issue is kept out of sight in the process.
Other parts of the country suffering from counterfeit products are assisted by policing forums. One example was the bust of Mokgobu supermarket in a Limpopo small town called Mankweng. However, locals often report that the shops are closed temporarily and then reopen again to continue with business as usual, causing a further outcry.
Arrests seem to be made in vain
There have been many claims by eyewitnesses and citizens that offenders go back to sell the fake goods after being released from jail. Usually, these credible claims are made through social media which seems to be one of the few platforms where citizens are confident to voice out their concerns.
The community activist outclass the authorities
Community Activists are doing a great job than most. In a recent inspection by community activists in the town of Delmas in Mpumalanga Province, one shop was discovered to be selling counterfeit goods, from food products, general household products, and cosmetics. As a result, the shop was closed and unlike other places where these shops are reopened, with this one, it is a different case.
In Conclusion
Counterfeits are not only unregulated but they also negatively impact on the economy of the country. They reap off from the economy in multiple ways than one since they are unregulated.The value of the actual goods or products decreases due to the fact that the counterfeit share the profits of the legit goods without the legal and economic rights.
The jobs that would have otherwise been created by tax generated from profits of these products cannot be accounted for leading to the deterioration of income tax to support other activities in the economy.
The health of citizens is greatly affected by counterfeit goods breeding new diseases. The department of health has no mitigation strategy besides the efforts made by the public mostly through social media. The departments’ “hotline” for citizens to report any businesses dealing with counterfeit goods is yet to be proven working.
It is evident that citizens cannot rely on authorities to protect them from counterfeit goods. Community Activists and policing forums have proven to be effective in exposing the counterfeit goods business dealers.
