How does personal-importation discretion work in South Africa?

I am comparing three suppliers on documentation rather than on price.

I would like to know the limits of what can be inferred from this.

What I am trying to avoid is over-reading a single result, which I have done before.

How should I read this, and where are the traps?

This is the tag where the site is least able to help and most obliged to say so plainly.

If the amount at stake is material, this is a question for a lawyer in your jurisdiction rather than for a forum in any jurisdiction.

The relevant detail is that the authority that matters is the national medicines regulator plus the customs authority, and both usually publish their position in plain language on their own websites.

Onward supply is a materially different legal act and should not be assumed to follow the same rule as personal importation.

Prior successful deliveries tell you about enforcement, not about legality.

Stated carefully, "For research use only" is a statement by the seller about intended use, and it binds nobody.

A research-use-only label is a supplier's statement about intended use. It has no status in customs classification and does not create an exemption for the importer.

Enforcement posture and legal position are not the same thing. Consignments arriving without incident establish nothing about the underlying rule.

Medicines regulation and drug-control law are distinct legal frameworks in most countries, with different scheduling and different penalties.

If the stakes are material, ask a lawyer where you live rather than a forum anywhere.

Selling on is a different legal act from importing for yourself, in essentially every jurisdiction.

Three broad categories cover most cases: controlled or scheduled substances, prescription-only medicines, and unclassified chemicals. The rules, penalties and enforcement posture differ sharply between them.

Personal-importation allowances for medicines exist in some jurisdictions with quantity and supply-period limits, and are absent in others.

Personal importation and onward supply are different acts under different rules.

The relevant distinction is between substances that are scheduled, substances that are prescription-only medicines and substances that are unclassified.

Onward supply — including at cost, including to friends — is treated separately and much more seriously in most regimes than importation for personal use.

Research-use-only labelling is a commercial convention originating in laboratory supply and carries no regulatory status for an individual importer.

Look up your own regulator and customs authority. They publish the answer directly.