Minister of Police Bheki Cele led Operation Shanela and walked around Johannesburg CBD on Saturday clamping down business operations which sold counterfeit goods.
The operation was a collaborative effort between the South African Police Services (SAPS), Home Affairs and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).
Speaking to SABC, Cele said targeting shops which sell counterfeit goods was also a crime fighting measure as its illegal to operate a business selling fake goods.
He added that most stalls have been rented out by South Africans to foreign nationals who then sell fake items.
“These stalls are licensed and are owned by South Africans and those South Africans are not utilising them, instead, they lease them to foreign nationals and that is wrong. That’s why we have to get a list of the people who have these permits.
“...If they don’t use them, they must be taken and given to other people. There’s no use to get them legally and give them to people that are not supposed to be here, people that are not legit, people that run away when police come. If you run away when you see police coming, then there’s something wrong that you are doing,” he said.
Cele added that another reason they targeted Joburg CBD was due to the high crime rate in the area.
“This operation will be ongoing because we have discovered that the City centre has a lot of criminality. So its important that we work on it, we prevent crime and allow people to feel safe,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela said they also verified nationalities of people who were found operating in the stalls.
“Some stalls were abandoned when we came, people saw us and ran away. So we are going to confiscate the goods and whoever wants his property back will have to come to the police station and provide proof of ownership and that the goods are not fake,” Mawela said.
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