State of Illicit Tobacco in South Africa – Still Disastrous

During his 2024 national budget speech, in February, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the South African Revenue Service (SARS) was deploying closed-circuit television (CCTV) and related technologies on the premises of licensed tobacco manufacturers, to address the high levels of illicit tobacco.

The move to install the cameras was motivated by the need to regulate and account for every domestically manufactured and imported tobacco product intended for the South African market, in order to ensure the correct amount of excise duties was being paid.

The cameras are being installed in such a way that they capture the manufacturing, storing, and loading of tobacco (and tobacco products). No- one will be able to obstruct, tamper with, or manipulate the cameras.

This move, together with other ‘wins’, such as placing tax evader Gold Leaf Tobacco Corp (which, post- pandemic, had a 26% market share) under curatorship, are a step in the right direction. However, the numbers released in Godongwana’s budget review indicate that SARS is losing the war against illicit cigarettes.