A Waste paper business based in Durban has 24 hours to start paying a fine of R500 000 or face five years in prison.
A spokesperson for the Nasional Prosecuting Authority, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, says Haashim's Agency (Pty) Ltd, arranged to export 39 containers filled with waste scrap paper to be delivered to the South African Customs Depo in Durban, for export to India.
The delivery was scheduled for November 2021.
She says, however, that the company did not have the necessary export permit, which they knew they needed.
Ramkisson-Kara says the company registered the cargo under an incorrect tariff code, that does not need a permit, to avoid applying for one.
They were busted after an inspection by the Custom's Illicit Trade Unit and the containers were subsequently detained.
The company was sentenced under certain conditions and has to pay the first R100 000 of their fine by Saturday and must then commence with monthly payments of R20 000 starting in February.
The Magistrate ordered Haashim's Agency to be paid up by the 3rd of June or a prison sentence of five years could be imposed on those implicated.
