By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:Mathokoza Sikhondze, the Coordinator of Informal Traders has urged emaSwati importing goods from South Africa and other countries to declare at the Borders so that, the country could have a reasonable share from the South African Customs Union(SACU).

Speaking to this Swaziland News this week, the Coordinator applauded Finance Minister Neal Rijikernberg for the new ten thousand Rands(R10,000.00) Value Added Tax(VAT) exemption threshold which he said, comes as a huge relief for informal traders.

But the Finance Minister when announcing the new threshold this week, urged emaSwati to declare and produce the receipts, he maintained that they won’t be charged VAT if the amount is below the R10,000.00 threshold.

“We appreciate this decision from the Finance Minister and by extension, the Government, it comes as a huge relief for us as informal traders. I would like to urge emaSwati who import goods from South Africa and other countries to demonstrate appreciation for this decision by declaring their goods and produce receipts. This will assist our country receive a reasonable SACU revenue share,” he said.

The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is the world’s oldest customs union, founded in 1910, and consists of five member states: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). 

Its purpose is to facilitate trade by removing internal tariffs and maintaining a common external tariff on goods from outside the Union.