KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube on Monday vowed to act firmly against the “tidal wave” of lawlessness in her province amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

This follows the successful raid of a hijacked building after an avalanche of tip offs. The building was being used to store and sell expired and counterfeit goods.

The raid was conducted by the department’s Business Regulations and Consumer Protection Unit and was able to uncover expired goods and undocumented foreigners in possession of illegal documents.

Dube-Ncube reiterated the position of her department, which is to protect the province of KwaZulu-Natal from those who are involved in unscrupulous activities.

“As stated in the past, KZN is the only province we have. And we want to hand it over to future generations in a good condition. We have not changed our position,” said emphasised.

She also commended the work done by the inspectors from the Department of Employment and Labour, Home Affairs Immigration Unit, Durban Metro, Crime Intelligence and other law enforcement agencies.

She added that the presence of officials from the South African Revenue Service, in some of the raids, had strengthened her department’s efforts to ensure compliance with the laws of the country.

The department’s spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya confirmed that in a recent raid the department discovered counterfeit condoms, chocolate and other food products which expired in 2012 but were to be sold to unsuspecting consumers.