“Do not ask me where I get my stock. Buy or leave!” the owner of a store which sells counterfeit goods in central Johannesburg remarked angrily when asked about the origin of
his stock.
“Do you want to buy or not? Do not ask me about my stock,” another store owner blurted out angrily when Sunday World posed a similar question.
On a sunny Wednesday morning, the owner of a clothing store on the congested Small Street in Johannesburg CBD is using a feather duster to remove dust from counterfeit sneakers displayed on the shelves.
“Come inside, brother, come, look.”
With these words, the owner welcomed Sunday World into her store to view counterfeit footwear on her shelves.
Sunday World went undercover this week to check out clothing stores in the Joburg CBD located along the Klein, Small, Bree and Von Wielligh streets.
The area is notorious for manufacturing and selling counterfeit sneakers and sandals of brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma and Lacoste.
The goods, which include branded sports bags, are manufactured in the upper floors of high-rise buildings and then displayed and sold in ground-floor stores along the pavements.
The goods, including sneakers, are sold for as little as R100, R350, R400 and R500, much less than the retail prices of legitimate products.
Some of the sneakers and sandals on display on the shelves of the stores were dusty, worn out and had stains.
This did not seem to perturb the sellers, who continued showing the shoes with zeal to potential clients coming into the store.
The stores are run by traders from parts of Asia and East Africa; however, Sunday World could not establish if they have the relevant documentation to be in the country.
Their employees are mostly Malawi nationals who are responsible for tasks such as sewing, tailoring and designing of the goods and labels.
The stores operate from Monday to Sunday from 8am to 5.45pm, even on public holidays, and are frequented by locals who buy in bulk to resell.
The clients come from as far as Limpopo, Mpumalanga and other provinces to buy the
counterfeit goods.
Two of the owners said they get their stock from China and Thailand via courier services within a week after ordering.
However, they could not reveal the cost of buying the stock and how much the
courier services cost.
According to the South African Revenue Service’s (Sars) 2023-2024 annual report, the revenue collection agency conducted 309 busts of counterfeit goods valued at R2.1-billion through its customs seizure system.
According to a report that was published by the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade in June 2023, Sars estimates that illicit trade costs the economy R100-billion every year.
In terms of lost tax revenue, Business Leadership South Africa estimates that the country loses R250-million a day.
