That page as down this morning. I accessed it early, about 06:00, the tried again later and it was down for at least 3 hours. Be that as it may, look at the wording of the Act, then the "guideline'.
A competent lawyer will tie SAHPRA in knots IF they ever try and use this to prosecute someone for importing medicine or substances used for compounding medicine for
personal use.
The Law:
14. Prohibition on the sale of medicines, medical devices or IVDs which are subject to registration and are not
registered.—(1) Save as provided in this section or sections 21 and 22A, no person shall sell any medicine, medical
device or IVD which is subject to registration by virtue of a declaration published in terms of subsection (2) unless it is
registered.
“sell” means sell by wholesale or retail and includes import, offer, advertise, keep, expose, transmit, consign, convey or deliver for sale or authorize, direct or allow a sale or prepare or possess for purposes of sale, and barter or exchange or supply or dispose of to any person whether for a consideration or otherwise; and “sale” and “sold” have corresponding meanings;
Absolutely NOTHING in that definition as complicated as it is says ANYTHING about for personal use.
Now read their guideline:
In terms of section 14(1) of the Act, no person shall import and supply any medicine, which is subject to registration by virtue of a resolution published in terms of section 14(2) unless it registered with Council.
See anything about for personal use?
SAHPRA will be hard-pressed to prosecute anyone buying medication overseas and bringing it into the country if the purpose is for personal use no matter what their guideline tries to convey.
Would I put it to the test? No, not unless there is a very specific and urgent need for medication that just is not available here and which SAHPRA refuses to allow. (ie, such as Ivermectin)
At the moment Ivermectin fits this scenario completely. The ONLY way they could do anything about it was to ban the substance/medication, which they did.
Do they have the power to do this? Probably not, but we will have to see what the courts say about it.
We all have the absolute right to preserve our own life.