The cargo scanner, a monster of a machine not entirely unlike HAL 9000, was officially launched at Cape Town Harbour by SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane, and is part of the Revenue Service’s ongoing crackdown on illicit trade. As from Wednesday, the scanner became operational.

“The use of non-intrusive inspection tools is part of SARS’ strategic plan to clamp down on non-compliant behaviour‚ while still facilitating legitimate trade‚” read a statement by SARS.

“With the new high-tech scanners in Durban and Cape Town‚ SARS is doing end-to-end integrated cargo scanning for the first time. In other words‚ our risk engine‚ case management system and scanner software is now integrated into one solution that is automated and real-time‚ with the whole process recorded on the SARS system from beginning to end.”

The scanner is the second of its kind to be utilised by SARS; the first was unveiled in the Port of Durban in 2014. The Durban scanner replaces a mobile scanner which has been refurbished and is scheduled to become operational at Beitbridge in December. And in addition to the new cargo scanners, a number of new baggage scanners are being installed around the country as well. The first were installed at the Durban Mail Centre and King Shaka International Airport in June‚ as well as Beitbridge and Maseru Bridge in July.

The next baggage scanners follow at Cape Town International Airport‚ Cape Town Mail Centre‚ OR Tambo International Airport‚ Johannesburg Mail Centre‚ Kopfontein (which borders Botswana)‚ and Lebombo (which borders Mozambique), says Rae Cruikshank, group executive of customs operations.

So just how hi-tech are these new scanners, and what exactly can they do? Well, according to SARS, the answer to the first question is: very. They use dual radiation scanning which can differentiate between the density and type of materials, including organics and non-organics. According to the minutes of a meeting between stakeholders held in 2014, “The scanner has the best technology currently available in the world, and SARS is the first organisation in the world to implement an integrated, end-to-end case management process.”

And the second question? The scanner can show the difference between 40 different types of materials including aluminium, steel, plastic, and various organics. It can spot one millimetre of copper wire or scan through nearly 40cm of solid steel. And, just to make us all feel a bit better, it has a radiation portal, which means customs can check that no radioactive material is being smuggled.

On an efficiency level, the new scanner is very good news. Unpacking suspicious containers is labour-intensive and time-consuming. Were inspections to be done manually, customs could manage maybe three containers in a day. With the scanners, one inspection takes less than quarter of an hour. The new scanner is expected to be able to eliminate around 80% of physical searches.

It’s not a moment too soon, either – SARS has had a big week, having pulled off four massive busts over the last few days which resulted in the seizure of Viagra, Mandrax and cocaine worth around R48.8 million.

Around R3 million worth of Mandrax was being smuggled in over the Mozambican border, which was discovered by one of the Lebombo detector dogs, while R1.2 million worth of cocaine was found hidden in books by a woman in OR Tambo International Airport on Saturday. And on Thursday 16 July, over 400,000 Viagra tablets were smuggled into the same airport, worth about R40 million. The Mandrax in particular was a coup; according to DrugAware, South Africa is the world’s biggest Mandrax abuser.

It’s a happy ending to what’s been a fraught tale for SARS so far. The customs scanner project, one of the Revenue Service’s two largest IT projects, was valued at R1,5 billion, and the tender was first published in November 2006. In a statement issued in 2007, SARS wrote, “The CCSI (Container Cargo Scanner Initiative) Tender, published in November 2006, invited service providers to become preferred bidders for the provision of seven types of container scanners and related services, as well as the immediate provision of a scanner for the Port of Durban. The seven scanner types required are: Fixed scanners; re-locatable scanners; mobile scanners; compact mobile scanners; rail scanner; airport baggage scanners; and airport cargo scanners.” But for many years before lift-off, the project was dogged by delays and controversies.

Now, however, the technological leg up in the fight against illicit trade is a much-needed boost. Being as it is an extremely broad term, illicit trade is an equally demanding fight: it covers anything from narcotics to illegal wildlife trade to simply bringing products into the country that do not adhere to the prescribed safety standards. Put simply: it’s a massive job. Cruikshank, speaking to Daily Maverick, gave some idea of the enormity of the problem by pointing out that customs’ biggest trade problems range from drug smuggling to the importing of inferior windscreens.

Windscreens?

Yes, windscreens. And that’s one of the major challenges, apparently.

Asked what areas were being prioritised by SARS, Cruikshank replied: “We concentrate on those goods that either present the highest loss of potential revenue, or alternately, those that pose the highest risk to citizens.” (This explains the windscreens. Those that do not meet international safety standards must be rooted out, especially in a country with an already concerning road accident rate.)

“That’s not to say we ignore anything else,” says Cruikshank. “Equally, we are bound to investigate every contravention.”

The wildlife trade is, unsurprisingly, a growing concern, with 20 – 30 sniffer dogs trained throughout the country. These dogs are able to sniff out various materials such as narcotics or bones, which assists customs officials with locating drug or wildlife traders. Rhino poaching is a big one: from January to November 2014, 344 alleged rhino poachers, couriers and poaching syndicate members were arrested in South Africa and 1,020 rhino were killed in the same period; nearly 700 of which were in the Kruger National Park. In 2015, over 666 rhinos have been poached so far and just 17 have been arrested, according to WESSA. The abalone trade is also roaring. By the early 2000s illegal harvesting made up the bulk of South Africa’s annual abalone catch, and was estimated at over 2,000 tons.

Another of the great challenges authorities face is minimising the damage done to the local clothing and textile industry by illicit trade. In a statement released in 2013, SARS said, “SARS considers these as strategic economic sectors… given [the] potential to create jobs and grow the domestic economy.

“The industries face a number of constraints and obstacles which had a huge impact on the number of jobs that were lost across these industries over recent years. The key challenge confronting these industries and the South African economy relates to our global competitiveness… issues relating to the illegal flow of clothing and textiles across South African borders are… but one part of the constraints and obstacles.”

As such, the Revenue Service put in place a number of strategies to support the clothing and textile industry, as well as working with stakeholders in the industry. “They have been very hard hit by illicit trade,” says Cruikshank. “We work with labour and reps from the clothing and textile industry, because illegal imports are severely hampering their ability to flourish, and many workers are losing their jobs. We use their knowledge of the industry. We ask what is the appropriate price for a T-shirt, for instance? They can also pick up a piece of clothing or fabric and tell us: this is not 100% cotton, for example. Collaborating with representatives from particular industries gives us the intelligence to keep things above board.”

More encouragingly, South Africa does not appear to be a major player in the illicit arms trade. Cruikshank does not list arms as a top-priority concern, and although South Africa is one of the few countries on the African continent with the capabilities to manufacture arms and ammunition, this has compelled security forces in South Africa to make a concerted effort to destroy surplus arms, reports a study by Matt Schroeder and Guy Lamb entitled ‘The Illicit Arms Trade in Africa’. A greater danger lies within South Africa itself: the largest number of unnatural deaths are caused by small arms. According to the study, “The small arms component of the South African industry comprises less than 10 manufacturers and their output is insignificant in terms of the global small arms trade. Further, because national governments tightly monitor and regulate African manufacturers, very limited numbers of African-manufactured arms and ammunition enter the illegal market.”

By far the largest danger to trade and safety, say both Cruikshank and the statistics, lies in the cigarette industry. The 2012 global Illicit Trade Report highlighted South Africa as a cigarette smuggling hotspot. Cigarette smuggling can range from tax evasion to smuggling to the manufacture of counterfeit products, or a combination of all three, and syndicates are normally not simply involved in cigarette smuggling.

South Africa in fact leads the continent in illicit tobacco trade, and is listed in the top five illicit markets in the world, according to the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa. Business Day reported in 2014 that over R20 billion in tax revenue had been lost in the country since 2010 due to the illicit trade in tobacco. Additionally, the trade was linked to international organised crime syndicates, some of which funded terrorism. According to sagoodnews.co.za, some syndicates also fund drug and child trafficking.

Additionally, the cigarettes themselves can be deadly (more deadly than the usual kind) because they sometimes contain non-government approved substances.

“The problem runs far deeper than enormous losses of fiscal income that could have been put to good use to bolster government efforts in education, infrastructure development and poverty alleviation,” the Tobacco Institute’s CEO, Francois van der Merwe, said at the time.

As much as SARS is making inroads in its struggle against smuggling, the cigarette trade is still ahead. Gene Ravele, SARS chief officer for Tax and Customs Enforcement Investigation, said in 2014 that SARS had seized counterfeit cigarettes to the equivalent of R109 million but that illicit traders were still raking in a profit of around R7.2 million.

In 2014/2015, SARS documented 1,494 interventions and seized 204 million sticks of contraband cigarettes worth more than R110 million. Five cases, involving illicit goods valued at R5.6 million, have been forwarded to the NPA. However, looking at the statistics of the illicit cigarette trade, this means law enforcement still has some way to go before winning the battle. Again, SARS has partnered with stakeholders in the legal cigarette trade – for example BATSA – in order to gain traction in the fight against smuggling.

“SARS has enhanced its risk management systems to better track cigarettes in transit through South Africa,” says Cruikshank. “It continues to meet cigarette manufacturers and importers to improve trade statistics, increase compliance and counter smuggling.”

As with all crimes, law enforcement relies on being one step ahead. For a moment, at least, the cargo scanners seem to have given SARS an advantage. DM

Photo: A photo made available 01 March 2010 shows an aerial view of ships docked at the container terminal in Cape Town harbour in Cape Town, South Africa, 09 January 2010. EPA/NIC BOTHMA

Read more:

• SARS cancels R1.5bn cargo scanner tender

• South African Customs launches new X-Ray Inspection Facility in Durban

• New CT cargo scanner will avoid random searches

• What do illegal cigarettes really cost our country?