Fake Apple products seized in South African raid
The South African Police Service (SAPS) seized numerous counterfeit goods in Germiston on 1 June 2026, including fake Apple products.
The SAPS released photos of the goods seized by the Gauteng Counterfeit Unit on Facebook, including the packaging of fake AirPods, which closely resembled the original boxes.
“On 1 June 2026, in Germiston, Ekurhuleni District, Members inspected six shops and seized various counterfeit and illicit products,” the SAPS said.
“Items included 372 counterfeit clothing items valued at R98,900, 70 counterfeit cellphone accessories valued at R55,700, 929 counterfeit consumer products valued at R37,890, and illicit pharmaceuticals.”
The SAPS said teams found 327 illicit pharmaceutical products that had a combined value of approximately R16,350.
“A total of 1,698 items with an estimated value of R208,840 were seized during the Germiston operation,” the SAPS said.
In the same post, it highlighted another operation that took place on 3 June 2026 at a storage facility in Langlaagte.
During the operation, police seized 3,096 boxes of counterfeit Goldstar yeast and two vehicles allegedly used to commit crimes.
“These operations form part of ongoing efforts to protect consumers, safeguard legitimate businesses, and remove counterfeit and illicit goods from the market,” the SAPS said.
Authorities and the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) have been working to crack down on counterfeit goods in the country.
In November 2024, the CGCSA launched the MyCGCSA/CS1za app, intended to help with the country’s crackdown.
The app received an update in February 2025, with the CGCSA adding various new features, including the ability for users to report counterfeit goods.
In May 2025, barcode supplier GS1’s South African executive at the CGCSA, Michelle Padayachee, told MyBroadband the app had not received any reports flagging fake tech products in South Africa.
“The majority of reports received have primarily been related to food and consumables, which aligns closely with the typical focus of our user base,” she said.
“We continue to monitor all submissions to ensure swift action where necessary in collaboration with the Crime and Risk Division.”
South Africa getting flooded with counterfeit goods
Due to poor controls at customs and severe challenges at South Africa’s product standards bodies, the country has been flooded with counterfeit products in recent years.
In November 2024, CBI-electric engineering executive Dr Andrew Dickson said South Africa was seeing an influx of counterfeit electrical goods from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
These include knock-off circuit breakers, light switches, and other common electrical items installed in homes.
“Someone will take an existing product and go to somewhere like China and ask them to create a replica,” Dickson said.
“They will take the product and copy it, making it look like yours and then bring it back into the local market.”
Moreover, he said many of these businesses producing counterfeit goods had already established a presence in the South African market, and their knock-offs were often mistaken for legitimate products.
He said it is also tough to detect shipments of counterfeit goods arriving in South Africa, as it requires specialist knowledge to identify what is legitimate and what isn’t.
“They either stop everything, which hurts the legitimate manufacturers, or they don’t stop anything, flooding the market with counterfeit goods,” Dickson said.
Another area in which South Africa faces a flood of counterfeit and non-compliant products is wireless devices.
In July 2024, MyBroadband found that online merchants were selling products with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transceivers without the necessary licences or approvals on platforms like Temu.
Local sellers on e-commerce marketplace Takealot have recently also complained of an alleged surge in Chinese sellers on the platform selling knock-offs of their products, often undercutting them by just R1.
Police seize counterfeit goods in Germiston and Langlaagte
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