News / Africa
Smuggled Zimbabwean cigarettes in SA costing jobs
19 Mar 2012 at 04:43hrs | Views
Zimbabwean cigarettes have been identified as one of the major drivers of the South African contraband market with a 70 percent market share according to the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
Popular contraband brands included Dullahs, Remington Gold, Kingsgate, Shasha, Sharp, Director, and Absolute.
Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay said figures indicated that syndicates were diverting their focus from drugs to cigarettes. "Information obtained suggests that a number of well-known organised crime figures have been moving away from investing in traditional illegal drug smuggling, and are now getting involved in the tobacco industry."
Recently 18 million contraband cigarettes were seized from containers at Durban harbour.
Sars said about 347 alleged smugglers were arrested and 1.2 billion cigarettes confiscated between January and December last year.
The SA's Tobacco Industry of Southern Africa (Tisa) said at least 15 000 jobs have been lost over the last 10 years due to the smuggling of contraband cigarettes.
Tisa chairperson Francois van der Merwe said the illegal trade of cigarettes was crippling the industry as they were sold at lower prices than the legal product.
He said despite an increase in the number of people smoking, the industry was seeing a decrease in profits as more people opted for contraband cigarettes.
In South Africa, the tobacco industry generated more than R10 billion annually, and more than R4 billion was lost due to sales of the smuggled product.
Van der Merwe said the activities were affecting the economy, with tobacco farmers retrenching workers and being forced to close down.
In the last 10 years, 1 000 tons of cigarettes have been confiscated in Limpopo, Gauteng, and at Durban harbour.
Zimbabwe's tobacco production is projected to reach 150 million kilograms this year, up from 131 million kg prior year.
The crop's production remains on a recovery following the decline of to 48 million kg in 2008, from a peak of 236 million kg in 2000. Erratic rains and limited funding are however expected to dampen the growth of sector.
Farmers are expected to benefit from a flood-destroyed crop in Brazil where production is expected to decline by 150 million kilogrammes.
Brazil is one of the world's leading tobacco producing nations at 750 million kg annually.
Local farmers are also expected to get a boost from a 50 million kg slowdown in United States tobacco production were yield are usually between 200 and 300 million kg per year.
Popular contraband brands included Dullahs, Remington Gold, Kingsgate, Shasha, Sharp, Director, and Absolute.
Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay said figures indicated that syndicates were diverting their focus from drugs to cigarettes. "Information obtained suggests that a number of well-known organised crime figures have been moving away from investing in traditional illegal drug smuggling, and are now getting involved in the tobacco industry."
Recently 18 million contraband cigarettes were seized from containers at Durban harbour.
Sars said about 347 alleged smugglers were arrested and 1.2 billion cigarettes confiscated between January and December last year.
The SA's Tobacco Industry of Southern Africa (Tisa) said at least 15 000 jobs have been lost over the last 10 years due to the smuggling of contraband cigarettes.
Tisa chairperson Francois van der Merwe said the illegal trade of cigarettes was crippling the industry as they were sold at lower prices than the legal product.
He said despite an increase in the number of people smoking, the industry was seeing a decrease in profits as more people opted for contraband cigarettes.
Van der Merwe said the activities were affecting the economy, with tobacco farmers retrenching workers and being forced to close down.
In the last 10 years, 1 000 tons of cigarettes have been confiscated in Limpopo, Gauteng, and at Durban harbour.
Zimbabwe's tobacco production is projected to reach 150 million kilograms this year, up from 131 million kg prior year.
The crop's production remains on a recovery following the decline of to 48 million kg in 2008, from a peak of 236 million kg in 2000. Erratic rains and limited funding are however expected to dampen the growth of sector.
Farmers are expected to benefit from a flood-destroyed crop in Brazil where production is expected to decline by 150 million kilogrammes.
Brazil is one of the world's leading tobacco producing nations at 750 million kg annually.
Local farmers are also expected to get a boost from a 50 million kg slowdown in United States tobacco production were yield are usually between 200 and 300 million kg per year.
Source - News24
