98% Custom amount charged on item imported

My husband's sister sent him a hoodie from the UK. It cost her 80 pounds. It arrived in South Africa on the 21st January 2015 and no-one from DHL contacted us. Only when we started contacting them after a few weeks, did they tell us that the parcel had arrived and that we needed to pay a Customs charge. They would not advise us of the charge telephonically, but kept promising to send the invoice, which they didn't do. Only yesterday, 18th February 2015, did we receive an invoice for ZAR 1463.92. The hoodie was purchased for 80 pounds, which converts to ZAR 1429.96. That means we are being charge 98% customs fee/duty?? This is ludicrous! As far as I am aware, the charge on imported clothing is 40-45% of the cost of the item. <br> Another thing is that we are now being charged transport fees to move the hoodie back from the safe house that it was delivered to, as we had not paid within 7 days of the item's arrival in SA. We were not even contacted so we cannot be held responsible for any cost incurred before we were sent the invoice.