This has attracted negative publicity from the usual people who have made it their job to criticise Government even where it is not necessary. Government critic and journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, who lied that the Taskforce would go door to door inspecting pantries to establish how the groceries stored therein were sourced, readily comes to mind in this regard.
The work of the Taskforce, which includes the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), rubbed the affected individuals and their sympathisers the wrong way if the responses on various social media platforms are anything to go by.
Those who have been directly hit by the operation are counting their losses, while opposition players who are desperate for attention and relevance have readily latched onto the issue to fight Government on a matter they do not seem to fully comprehend. Going by the responses and sentiments, it is very clear that most people do not understand the rationale of the operation.
This is the reason why some people are just criticising Government for the operation from points of political bias and baseless emotion rather than concrete facts. Because of the ignorance, others are just cursing Government officials manning roadblocks across the country for what they regard as an unnecessary inconvenience.
For the record, the Taskforce on Business Malpractices was set up by Cabinet late last year in response to the burgeoning economic malpractices which manifested in the presence of counterfeit, underweight and misleadingly labelled goods on the local market, which were attracting bargain-hunting consumers because of their incredibly low pricing. The operation is in response to some informal traders, who are aiding and abetting smuggling, by selling the contraband from vehicle boots on roadsides in towns and cities where they do not payany taxes or any dues to Government and local authorities. This places formal retail traders like large supermarket chains and some law-abiding tuck shop owners, who trade legally, at a huge economic disadvantage. The street and car boot traders have no overheads to take care of when compared with their formal trader counterparts.
The responses and sentiments being provided by many people giving the impression that Government is unfairly targeting innocent citizens who are trying to eke out a living in a country which is facing many socio-economic challenges, cannot be any further from the truth. People expect services from Government and these are funded from revenue coming from various taxes and duties. It is the height of dishonest for anyone to expect better servicesfrom Government while cheering on smugglers and illegal traders who sabotage Government and society by avoiding paying taxes and duties, which arelegitimately due from them.
Ahead of the last festive season, many people criticised Government when ZIMRA officers at the Beitbridge Border Post impounded buses to carry outthorough checks, including for smuggled goods. In July 2020, customs authorities and local business leaders submitted that Zimbabwe was losing up to US$1 billion in customs duty. By now this figure is now way higher. Some bus crews had become facilitators of smuggling as they become active participants in ferrying contraband from South Africa to Zimbabwe. So too did some cross-border truck drivers who offloaded smuggled goods in various urban centres during the dead of the night to avoid detection by ZIMRA and law enforcement agents.
Smuggling affects the local manufacturing sector as it imports cheap substitute brands from mostly South Africa. Even products imported by legal distributors also affect the market share of local manufacturers.The matter is worsened by the fact that some unscrupulous traders are presenting counterfeitproducts packaged in popular South African brands’ labels to take advantage of the acceptability and trust which the brands have built in the local market over the past decades.
Consuming counterfeit products, including medical drugs, is risky to one’s health. Many consumers have testified of funnily tasting passed off toothpaste bought from roadside traders. While all they could pick was the funny taste of the fake toothpaste, what of the imperceptible and unknown harm to their health which they exposed themselves to? Many critics of the operation choose to ignore this just to score cheap political points against Government.
It is Government’s duty to ensure that its people are safe from the dangers and harm posed by consuming and using counterfeit products. Government is carrying out this responsibility using the Taskforce and all citizens should support it and co-operate with those tasked with carrying out the operation.
Between January and August last year, the CPC prosecuted 3 500 businesses under the Consumer Protection Act for their involvement in the manufacturing and distribution of fake, expired, underweight goods. The Taskforce’s work is an extension of this operation as Government presses ahead to put paid to economic malpractices by significantly reducing smuggling and the distribution of fake, underweight and expired goods.
When Government critics and opposition players criticise the Taskforce’s work, a visitor from the outer space would think that Government is seizing legally manufactured or procured goods. What Government is doing is not out of the ordinary. In South Africa, government uses a combination of laws, inspectors, and the police to deal with counterfeit goods. It also uses a variety of methods to combat smuggling, including law enforcement, legal instruments, and international co-operation. This is perfectly normal and only citizens with ulterior motives would find anything wrong with Government carrying out its people-given mandate to deal with errant individuals and businesses.
Most Zimbabweans are desperately wishing for a turnaround of the economy so that the quality of their lives improves. This cannot be achieved if some unscrupulous businesses and individuals are allowed free rein to indulge in malpractices that sabotage Government, the economy and ordinary citizens.
In view of the foregoing, it behoves every Zimbabwean individual and business to support Government’s ongoing efforts to turn around the economy and improve the people’s lives. We cannot move forward as a nation and stake our claim on the continental and global stage by politicising even normal Government business in the name of cheap political point scoring.
