SOUTH AFRICA
A report by the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (Tisa) conducted by Ipsos on the market share of illicit cigarettes in the country has revealed illicit cigarettes are South Africa’s biggest tobacco brand.
The report showed that sales of illicit cigarettes have increased from 33.4% in June this year to 41.8% of the market in October 2018.
Francois van der Merwe, Tisa chairperson, said illicit cigarettes needed urgent attention from the state as most of the illegal product is produced in South Africa. “State capture began with illegal cigarette money. I am a tobacco farmer…if the legal industry goes down, we don’t have anywhere else to go. This must be fixed,” he said.
It is estimated that South Africa loses R8 billion in tax revenue at the current growth of the illicit cigarette market.