Illegal cigarette kingpins made R12bn since lockdown ban on tobacco
By Thobeka Ngema
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Durban - Tax Justice SA (TJSA) and British American Tobacco South Africa (Batsa) are open to a commission of inquiry into the illegal cigarette trade in the country that has ballooned to billions of rands, the organisations have said.
On Tuesday,, TJSA founder Yusuf Abramjee said the illicit trade exploded since the 20-week ban in 2020 and that cost the country R38 million in lost excise taxes every day, and enriched kingpins in the black market to the tune of R12 billion.
Criminals selling tax-evading cigarettes now openly dominate the market across the country, costing the fiscus an estimated R8 billion a year in lost excise alone.
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Smoke and mirrors: Key tobacco players battle it out over commission of inquiry Updated
Nokukhanya N Mntambo
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The gloves are off for key players in the tobacco industry as the battle for the largest share of the market heats up.
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The Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita) has accused its competitors of dodging accountability over serious allegations levelled against them.
This comes after British American Tobacco SA (BATSA) was implicated in a damning report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
The report found that the multinational smuggled billions of cigarettes through Mali to the western and north-central African regions.