The illicit cigarette case against the owner of Solly’s Supermarket, Suliman Ismail Moolla (67), his wife Fatima Moolla (62) and son Riaz Moolla (42) in their personal capacity was withdrawn in the Evander Regional Court yesterday [July 30].

However, their business was fined and ordered to provide community support by buying 504 durable quality two-seater desks for several schools.

A total of 4 710 packets of counterfeit cigarettes with a value of more than R100 000 were seized from the business in September last year.

The charge against the business is Contravention of the Tobacco Products Act, Contravention of Customs and Excise Act, and Contravention of Value Added Tax Act.

The Hawks arrested Riaz Moolla on September 9 last year and he was released on bail after his court appearance.

However, on July 17, another warrant of arrest was issued by the court and Fatima and Suliman were also arrested and warned to appear in court alongside Riaz on July 29 for trail.

Suliman, who is the director of the business, known to the community as Solly’s Supermarket, but trading as Uptown Superstore Store, pleaded guilty and the matter was postponed to July 30 (yesterday).

The schools that will benefit from this court order include Chief Ampie Mayisa Secondary School, Sizwakele Secondary School, Thomas Nhlabathi Secondary School, Vukuqhakaze Secondary Shool, Kiriyatswane Secondary School, KI Thwala Secondary School and Kusasalethu Secondary School.

The court gave the business three months to comply with this order or a fine of R600 000 will have to be paid.

The Mpumalanga head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Major-General Nico Gerber, commended the investigation team, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the judiciary for their hard work.

Gerber said: “It is an interesting sentence. Criminals are out of pocket again because of their crimes. The community is benefitting from this sentence, and it will definitely help the next generation in their needs for a better education.”