Four men were arrested for manufacturing counterfeit alcohol in Westmead near Pinetown on Tuesday.
This follows a joint operation undertaken by the KZN Liquor Authority, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and liquor distributor Diageo South Africa, and police, with a manufacturing plant in Isipingo, South of Durban.
Police spokesman Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the men were caught in the act of manufacturing illegal spirited liquor at the clandestine distillery in Westmead.
He said intelligence had been gathered about the company that was allegedly manufacturing counterfeit liquor and an operational plan was put in motion.
“During observation it was uncovered that the gates to the building were always shut while operations continued behind the gates. Upon tactically penetrating into the building, police found three men in the act of bottling self-made liquor into bottles branded with the name of a well-known vodka brand. Branded boxes, tons of liquor, a matrix printer and bottle caps, all valued to approximately R400 000 were recovered and seized. The three suspects, aged between 29 and 42 years old, will appear in court soon,” said Colonel Netshiunda.
Siboniso Duma, the MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs said his department had embarked on a campaign to protect “local and honest entrepreneurs” in the liquor industry from a criminal syndicate behind illegal alcohol manufacturing in KwaZulu Natal.
He said statistics revealed that on average, regulated alcohol production contributed R72 billion to the South African economy through taxation, VAT and excise.
“Apart from the fact that more than R11.3 billion of tax revenue is lost due to the illicit alcohol trade, we remain worried about job losses and the health of unsuspecting consumers. Our entity, the KZN Liquor Authority has ensured the licensing of township and rural based entrepreneurs as part of stimulating township and rural economy. To date, our entity is servicing more than 8000 liquor license holders throughout the corners of the province,” said Mr Duma.
He said the tavern industry was estimated to be worth between R40 billion and R60 bilion and accounted for 80 to 90 % of township alcohol sales and 43% of all alcohol sold in South Africa.
“KZN is contributing tremendously to the national figures. Importantly the liquor industry has a wide and deep value chain employing almost thousands of people. As the department, we affirm our commitment to protect our economy and local liquor license holders from counterfeit alcohol that is flooding the market. The liquor industry remains critical in ensuring socio-economic development. Many other sectors of our economy such as tourism, hospitality and entertainment rely heavily on the liquor industry. A thriving liquor industry is therefore in the interest of this province,” said Mr Duma.
He added that the department had undertaken to strengthen their working relations with law enforcement agencies, SA Revenue Services, National Liquor Traders Council, South African Liquor Brandowners Association, the Beer Association of South Africa, Vinpro, the Liquor Traders Association of South Africa and alcohol manufacturers to ensure the liquor industry was protected.
