Cape Town - The South African economy is losing around R36 million per day in tax revenue due to the sale of illicit cigarettes after the government banned the sale of tobacco during the nationwide lockdown.

The country is trying to contain the spread of the Covid-19, which already has claimed the lives of 90 people.

SA Tobacco Transformation Alliance chairperson Ntando Shadrack Sibisi said: “SARS is losing R36m per day in excise revenue since the lockdown started, which amounts to R1.5 billion a month the 8 000 law-abiding South Africans in the tobacco farming, processing and manufacturing business are at risk of losing their livelihoods to the cigarette black market barons - not forgetting their 30 000 dependants whose survival depends on the legal tobacco business. On top of that, millions of rand are being lost to the fiscus.”

TAX Justice SA, which has been advocating for the government to lift the ban of the sale of the cigarettes, has urged citizens “to join the fight against criminals looting our nation”.

Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith said: “The ban has definitely played a role in accelerating the black market.”