About 8 billion illicit cigarettes are smoked annually, accounting for 30 per cent of the market and costing the government ZAR 12 billion (EUR 1.1 billion) in annual excise tax revenue, one industry group estimates.

Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (TISA) Chief Executive Officer Francois van der Merwe said the number of illicit cigarettes has risen by 500 million in the last year, driven by a high South African excise tax. His remarks opening a TISA conference on illicit trade were reported on the Business Day website.
“With 52 per cent of the retail price of cigarettes being tax, it means South Africa has the highest tax rate in the Southern African Customs Union. Illicit products are always smuggled to the region with the highest tax rate, because that is the smugglers’ profit margin," van der Merwe reportedly said. (pi)