Despite different studies revealing that South Africa’s ban on tobacco products during the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, including e-cigarettes and snus, had the opposite effect of what the government had intended, the government has decided to introduce a new law, Regulation 45, which dictates that the ban on tobacco and vaping products remains in place.
“The sale of tobacco, tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and related products to members of the public and to persons, including retailers who sell directly to the members of the public, is prohibited. The sale of tobacco, tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and related products for export is permitted. The sale of tobacco from farmers to local processors or local manufacturers, and from processors to manufacturers, is permitted,” states the regulation.
In a new report, the University of Cape Town’s Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP), investigated current prices of cigarettes being sold illicitly in South Africa, based on an online survey conducted during June 4-19, 2020,, found that the average price of cigarettes is nearly 250% higher than pre-lockdown prices, averaging SAR5.69 per stick, or around SAR114 for a pack of 20 cigarettes. This is even higher than the 90% increase in cigarette prices observed in an earlier survey in May 2020 by the same research team.
Of the respondents who continued smoking, 93% indicated that they had been able to purchase cigarettes during the lockdown period, either through informal channels, such as friends and family (27%), spaza shops (25%), street vendors (11%), or WhatsApp groups (8%). Formal retail outlets, which were the predominant source of cigarettes before lockdown (53%), have all but disappeared (0.3%).
More than 50% of all cigarettes purchased by respondents in their most recent purchase were brands from three companies affiliated with the Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA) – Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation (26%), Carnilinx (14%), and Best Tobacco Company (11%).