As early as October 2024, there were reports of delays in the EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) system of the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
In simple terms, response messages (CUSREC) to the submission of a declaration were delayed, effectively slowing the release of shipments for both air and sea freight.
At first, these delays did not appear to be serious, as the actual time delay was in minutes and occurred sporadically.
Recently, however, the situation has changed, and the delays have occurred more often and, in some instances, went from minutes to hours.
When the Sars EDI platform functions efficiently, a release message can be received within seven seconds, and therefore a delay of anything up to two hours becomes a serious challenge.
These delays continued throughout November and December and into January, becoming a norm rather than an exception.
- Read the rest in our "Columns" section.
