South Africa, which is facing a scourge of cigarettes trafficking, has started incinerating 20 million cigarettes smuggled into the country through its border with Zimbabwe.
According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the contraband of 20 million cigarettes, valued at over $2.3 million, and smuggled into the country between February and May this year, will be vandalized.
In a statement, SARS said: “The destruction of the illicit and smuggled cigarettes (at Beitbridge border post) is likely to last a few days.
“Illicit trade robs the government of much-needed revenue and destroys industries, exacerbating unemployment, poverty and inequality.”
In January, one of South Africa biggest tobacco producers, British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA), said that it had been compelled to cut around a third of its workforce since 2020 as result of the “ballooning illicit tobacco trade”.
BATSA estimated that “illicit cigarette trade accounts for up to 70 percent of South Africa’s total cigarette market”.
BATSA suggested that the decision to ban tobacco during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the country in 2020 resulted in a booming illicit market of cigarette trade.
The country imposed one of the world’s toughest lockdowns in March, including a ban on sales of alcohol and cigarettes.
SUPPORT NIGERIAN CANADIAN NEWSPAPER CANADA
If you like our work and want to keep enjoying what we offer, kindly support us by donating to the Nigerian Canadian News by clicking here
Share your thoughts in the comments section below
Do you want to share any news or information with us? If yes, contact the publisher at publisher@test1.nascitest.club
