POINT OF ORDER
TIM COHEN: Joining the dots leads to a smoking gun
‘The tax collected suggests duty is not being paid on 21-billion sticks (cigarettes), with the result that the fiscus is losing out on about R16bn’
One of the most frustrating things about being a journalist is knowing something is true but not being able to get it into a publishable state. So it was something of a relief this weekend to read the Sunday Times’s scoop story about, among other things, the tobacco industry in SA. Everything comes out in the end. After he was fired as finance minister, Pravin Gordhan invited us to "join the dots". The dots, in this case, are an industry that is crucial to the state because of the tax revenue it generates, a super-dominant player, an underworld-linked emerging competition, and at the centre of this spider web, the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The Sunday Times scoop, written by Jacques Pauw and based on his new book The President’s Keepers, delves with great panache into some of the characters in the emergent industry. I haven’t read the book yet, but even just from what has been published so far, you can visualise the dots finally being joined.It is important to note the st...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.