Sars donates tonnes of seized clothes and shoes to displaced KZN flood victims

Instead of destroying tonnes of clothes, blankets and footwear seized over four years, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is donating it to displaced KwaZulu-Natal flood victims.

The initiative — dubbed Project Sizani (We all Help) — took shape after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster in response to the April floods which killed more than 400 people and destroyed more than 8,500 homes.

Sars and the trade, industry and competition department collaborated with business and organised labour.

“While the project is aimed at minimising the material impact of the affected people, it is also intended to restore dignity to those who were left almost naked by the disaster. Humanity is what drives this gesture more than anything else,” said Patrick Moeng of Sars.

The initiative involves the distribution of some of the millions of tonnes of goods from the clothing, textile, footwear and leather industries (CTFL) seized by Sars since 2018.

These goods would have been destroyed in accordance with the Customs Act, which stipulates that seized goods must be destroyed to avoid disruption in the South African market.

The first phase of the project — the distribution of blankets to flood survivors living in community halls — kicked off in June.

“To date, more than 28,000 blankets have been delivered to individuals at about 174 sites in KwaZulu-Natal,” said Moeng.

The blanket project paved the way for the rollout of the second phase, “an even more intricate and tightly controlled process, as the footwear and clothing items are wrapped in individual packages for specific individuals in specific shelters before they are handed over for distribution”.

“This second phase is underway in KZN after a pilot at two smaller shelters in Inanda and one in La Mercy offered a chance to develop and refine the process.”

Moeng said 25,698 items of clothing have so far been donated to the first 31 of 74 sites.

“The packing, sorting and distribution to shelters continue as more shipments of seized clothing arrive from Gauteng, courtesy of shipping lines who extended their hand of goodwill to assist in transporting the containers of seized items to different parts of the country where the need has been identified.

“The project is expected to be concluded at the end of November with North West and Eastern Cape following KwaZulu-Natal.”

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