Drones to tackle smuggling by September
LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) is expecting to procure surveillance drones by September this year to tackle smuggling, Business Times can report.
This is the third time that the tax collector has pushed the procurement date despite the resurgence in smuggling.
ZIMRA Acting Commissioner General Regina Chinamasa told Business Times on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce meeting held in Victoria Falls last week that all is set for the procurement of the drones.
“We expect the procurement of the anti-smuggling to be done by September in an effort to ensure that dealers do not enter with cheap imports that will affect the local industry while at the same time they are not paying taxes,” Chinamasa said.
She said the procurement process is being finalised and a Gantt chart to guide implementation is almost complete.
“Through the procurement process a local service provider has been engaged who will then import the equipment,” Chinamasa said.
Recently, Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube said smuggling, which is rampant, has made the local industry uncompetitive as the smugglers sell goods at very low prices.
It is believed that there are some well knitted syndicates which involve foreign nationals, police officers and ZIMRA officers.
Zimbabwe could be losing over US$500m through tax evasion of smuggled basic goods into the country. Various foreign nationals who run downtown tuckshops smuggle tonnes of goods every day.
The authorities have placed high taxes on restricted goods to promote local industry but the downtown informal traders saw smuggling as a lucrative deal to supply cheap products at an affordable price.
It has been established that Rwandese, Congolese who come under the banner of investors own the majority of the downtown tuckshops involved in basic goods smuggling.
Millions of unbanked foreign currency circulates in the small area of downtown with authorities remaining silent on the issue.
