Diplomats in SA will only be allowed to buy 360 bottles of duty-free wine per year.
SA’s highest court has ruled that diplomats can no longer buy unlimited quantities of alcohol and cigarettes from duty-free shops because of the risk they will resell them on the black market.
The ruling is a win for Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana and SA Revenue Service (SARS) head Edward Kieswetter, who calculated that the resale of duty-free alcohol and cigarettes by diplomats was costing SA up to R100 million a month in lost taxes and excise duties.
“There can be no question that seeking to curb the abuse of privileges by rogue diplomats purchasing exorbitant quantities of duty-free alcohol and tobacco products, only to resell them for personal profit, is a legitimate objective,” said the court in a majority ruling penned by Justice Rammaka Steven Mathopo.
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