The majority of illicit cigarettes in South Africa are no longer smuggled into the country but are manufactured locally, according to the deputy minister of police, Maggie Sotyu.
Speaking at the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa’s (Tisa) anti-illicit trade conference in Cape Town yesterday (Tuesday), Sotyu was cited by several news sources as saying that about 60% of illicit cigarettes were manufactured in South Africa, in both approved factories and illegal covert operations.
According to her, the rest of the illicit tobacco products were smuggled in, predominantly from Zimbabwe as well as Dubai, China, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho.
East Coast radio quoted Sotyu as saying that while illicit cigarette trading had declined in the 2014/2015 financial year (down from 31% to 23%), SA still ranked among the top five countries in the world – along with Malaysia, Iraq, Brazil and Pakistan - with the highest incidence of trade in illicit cigarettes.
An e-News Africa report pointed out that around R4billion in South African tax revenue had been lost annually since 2010 due to illicit tobacco trade.
