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19 Sep, 2025
Porous borders fuel illicit trade: time to act
Statement by Zandile Phiri, Acting Secretary General of the United Democratic Movement The United Democratic Movement is alarmed by the rise in illicit cigarettes and alcohol in South Africa. These crimes rob the state of revenue, endanger public health, and weaken confidence in law enforcement. Recent cases show how criminal syndicates exploit porous borders, weak controls, and the complicity of some South Africans. Recently, in Musina, Limpopo, five SANDF members and two undocumented Zimbabwean nationals were arrested after illicit cigarettes worth R300,000 were found hidden at the Artonvilla military base. In the Cape Winelands, seven Somali nationals were detained at a Klapmuts facility where thousands of litres of ethanol and alcohol production equipment were seized. In Phoenix, Durban, police confiscated 1,500 bottles of illicit alcohol valued at R468,000 and arrested undocumented migrants working as delivery riders. These examples illustrate a pattern. While foreign nationals are often visible in these crimes, South Africans, including officials in uniform, play a central role in enabling and profiting from them. The South African Revenue Service has estimated that illicit alcohol cost the state R16.5 billion in lost tax revenue in 2024. It is reported that nearly one in five drinks consumed is illegal. Communities are exposed to unsafe products, while legitimate businesses lose jobs and investment. The UDM calls for urgent action. Border security and immigration enforcement must be strengthened. Corruption within security forces must be rooted out. Ethanol and alcohol production must be tightly regulated. Law enforcement agencies must coordinate to dismantle syndicates. Public awareness campaigns are needed to highlight the dangers of counterfeit goods. This is not a call to stigmatise foreign nationals, but to recognise that organised crime flourishes through cross-border networks, local collusion and weak enforcement. South Africa cannot afford to lose billions of rand and sacrifice lives to criminal profiteering.
