BIG BLANKETS AUCTION

MBABANE – The 8 208 bales of quilts (blankets) and 102 loose quilts (blankets) are back on the market, this time being sold at a minimum of 50 bales per buyer.

The good as new blankets will be sold to interested buyers by Swazi Auctioneers on a first come first serve basis and there will be no reservation of quantities to be allowed. The two ply and three ply blankets packaged in varying sizes between 11, 13 and 16 blankets in each bale, will be sold at E1 300 per bale across the board. The throws are in 48 piece bales. The public auction, which starts on Monday at 9am will run until November 8 subject to availability at the Matsapha Industrial Sites Warehouse opposite Steel and Wire International, will be convened as per instruction of the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA). “No choosing of lots/bales allowed. All bales will be sold on as is basis (voetstoots),” reads the bidder invitation in part.

Sealed bid opening results provided by SRA Director Communications Vusi Dlamini reflected that the total number of bids that had been earlier received for the blankets was seven. When quizzed on the results and whether the sealed bids received had been accepted, Dlamini responded: “The highest bid was E9.6 million. In addition, an offer to sell (was) made to the company that submitted the highest bid.” In the transaction which seems to have failed to materialise for undisclosed reasons, the blankets were being sold as a single lot through sealed bids. A sealed bid, also known as blind auction, is a type of auction where all bidders simultaneously submit sealed bids, so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant. The highest bidder pays the price they submitted.

SRA confiscated the blankets after it discovered anomalies, including the valuation of the quilts for the payment of customs duties.  They were valued by Impunzi Warehouse at US$1.50 each, which raised suspicions at the SRA, given that investigations showed that the same items were declared as being worth 10 times that when being imported into South Africa. The matter was subject of a high-profile court case as Impunzi challenged the SRA’s valuation of the blankets, which the Authority said US$14.33 each. It has been earlier been reported by this publication that the matter was withdrawn from court by Impunzi, leading to the SRA to keep the blankets which provided the reason why they were being put up for sale through auction.

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