South Africa police crackdown on counterfeit goods

In late July 2026 South African police intensified operations against illegal trade. On 26 July, officers stopped a white Iveco truck on the N1 near Bloemfontein, recovering copper cables worth more than R300,000 that had been stolen from state utilities Centlec, Eskom and Telkom; the driver was arrested on charges of possessing stolen property and tampering with essential infrastructure. In the same day a separate raid in Boksburg seized over 1.5 million counterfeit consumer items – including branded condoms, pens, Nike tracksuits – and 14,370 bottles of illicit vodka, valued at roughly R18.3 million.

Three days later, on 29 July, the SAPS National Counterfeit and Illicit Goods Unit, together with the South African Revenue Service and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, carried out a four‑day sweep across Gauteng. Raids in Johannesburg’s central business district and storage facilities in Randburg and Heidelberg recovered more than 56,000 counterfeit products – clothing, shoes, toner cartridges and illicit pharmaceuticals – valued at over R27.5 million. Police said the operations, conducted under the Counterfeit Goods Act of 1997, aim to protect intellectual‑property rights, public safety and local employment, and will continue in partnership with brand owners and other law‑enforcement agencies.