Thursday 25 February 2026 – Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s admission that illicit trade is devastating South Africa will ring hollow unless his promises of action are swiftly followed by arrests, prosecutions and recovered revenue, says Tax Justice SA.
TJSA leader Yusuf Abramjee said South Africans are already paying a steep price for years of weak enforcement. While today’s Budget increased ‘sin’ taxes in line with inflation, previous hikes had already enriched criminals by driving consumers to the shadow market.
“Illicit trade is draining around R100 billion a year from the fiscus,” Abramjee said. “That’s R250 million every single day going to criminals instead of schools, hospitals and policing.
“When three in four cigarettes sold in South Africa are illegal, simply enforcing the law would deliver an economic windfall that could improve millions of lives.”
Godongwana said in his Budget speech that illicit trade is bleeding the economy, costing jobs and robbing the fiscus of billions.
Abramjee welcomed the Minister’s commitment to intensified joint operations by SARS, SAPS, the Border Management Agency and the defence force, but stressed that South Africans need results, not reassurances.
“South Africans don’t need more speeches. They need arrests, prosecutions and recovered revenue,” he said. “The Budget must now be followed by urgent, visible action: properly resourced illicit-trade task teams at SARS, specialised SAPS units to dismantle organised crime networks and prosecutors who prioritise kingpins rather than street-level sellers.”
Abramjee also called for immediate transparency measures in the tobacco sector. “If manufacturers want a licence to make cigarettes, they must accept CCTV access for SARS,” he said. “That’s responsible governance in a country losing tens of billions every year to illicit cigarettes.
“Government must turn promises into prosecutions. Reclaiming the billions stolen through the black market would boost the fiscus far better than any tax hike ever could.”
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