smokin’

Illicit cigarettes: the evil burning down SA’s economy

The boom in the illicit cigarette trade coincides with skulduggery at the country’s revenue service, Sars, under former tax commissioner Tom Moyane, who was recently fired at the recommendation of the Nugent inquiry. How is it that a parallel illicit business operates quite openly; has it led to the huge slump in tobacco excise revenue; and why are the newcomers and established players like BAT at each other’s throats?