The app helping South Africa crack down on fake goods

While the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa’s (CGCSA’s) My CGCSA/CS1za app is helping it crack down on counterfeit goods in the country, it hasn’t received any reports flagging fake tech products.

The CGCSA added new features to the app in February 2025, enabling users to report counterfeit goods as part of its fight against illicit products in South Africa.

According to Michele Padayachee, GS1’s South African executive at the CGCSA, the app has not recorded any illicit tech products being reported.

“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.”

When MyBroadband tested the app’s new features earlier this year on iOS, we found it glitchy and relatively basic.

It had many pages, including the registration page, which had a black background with dark blue text, which was very difficult to read.

However, Padayachee said the app has been updated to improve its user interface.

“The recent user interface enhancements were implemented by the end of February 2025,” she said.

“This update was driven by valuable user feedback, aiming to improve the overall user experience and streamline the reporting process.”

Speaking about the new features in an interview shortly after launch, CGCSA CEO Zinhle Tyikwe said people selling counterfeit goods in the country significantly adversely impact various aspects of South Africa’s economy.

“We are really concerned about counterfeit and illicit goods in South Africa because they have taken over the economy. Government is not getting its due taxes,” she said.

“Our members are retailers and manufacturers, who are legitimate producers, are not getting the full revenue from their products.”

She added that many South Africans are unaware that some of the goods they buy are counterfeit or illicit.

Tyikwe said the CGCSA wants to raise public awareness about the challenges manufacturers and retailers face when it comes to the trade of counterfeit goods.

Through the CGCSA’s changes to the My CGCSA/GS1za app, South African consumers can scan product barcodes to verify their legitimacy and report them if they are found to be

Moreover, through its My CGCSA/GS1za app, consumers can now scan product barcodes to verify whether they are legitimate or counterfeit and report them if they are found to be illicit.

“We have an app through which you can scan the product using the barcode. If the barcode isn’t legitimate, it’s going to tell you in the app: this barcode is not correct,” said Tyikwe.

“As Consumer Goods South Africa, through the GS1, we are a member of a 118-member organisation comprising companies worldwide who put all of the barcodes of their products in a registry we are using.”

How to report fake goods

After registering for the My CGCSA/GS1za app, users can select the “Report Illicit Products” option if they know the certain goods are counterfeit, or the “Verify a Barcode” option if they want to confirm a product’s legitimacy.

For the first option, users can manually enter the address from where they are reporting or enable the app’s location permissions.

However, it also provides the option to report anonymously, which removes the requirement for your location.

It then takes you to a chatbot that asks you to select the category of product you want to report. The options include food, clothing, liquor, tobacco, and other products.

Users must then choose whether they want to report the product for one of the following reasons:

• Adulteration;
• Substitution;
• Dilution;
• Tampering;
• Counterfeiting (copying of the original brand);
• False labelling; or,
• Goods sold being past their expiry date

After selecting the counterfeit option, the app asks users to provide the product brand name, price, and the barcode number.

The “Verify a Barcode” option lets users scan a barcode using their smartphone’s camera or enter the barcode number manually. The former requires users to grant the app camera permission.

The app will then compare the barcode to the GS1za’s database to verify its legitimacy. If it is found to be fake, users can then proceed to report it.