(5 minutes read)
· The ongoing cigarette ban in South Africa has caused not only spike in prices but also black marketing enabling unscrupulous people to make a quick buck.
· A survey undertaken recently found that brands associated with the Fair Trade Tobacco Association (FIFA), which went to court to have the tobacco ban overturned – are proving big sellers under the ban.
· The survey was conducted by the Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP), an independent research unit based at the University of Cape Town.
The ongoing cigarette ban in South Africa has caused not only spike in prices but also black marketing enabling unscrupulous people to make a quick buck. .
A survey undertaken recently found that brands associated with the Fair Trade Tobacco Association (FIFA), which went to court to have the tobacco ban overturned – are proving big sellers under the ban. The research was conducted by the Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP), an independent research unit based at the University of Cape Town. It was found that the average price of cigarettes has increased by nearly 250% compared to pre-lockdown levels. The survey, conducted online had elicited feedback from 23, 000 respondents and was conducted between 4 and 19 June 2020. The average price per cigarette was R5.69 or R114 per pack of 20. It was 90% more than the cigarette prices in May, as revealed by the first edition of the survey undertaken that time.
Despite the rising prices, the survey )the second in the series) found, a smaller percentage of respondents were trying to quit smoking. The second edition of the survey found that nearly 30% of respondents had tried to quit during the lockdown, citing the high cost of cigarettes. Another 14% revealed they had tried to quit due to the sales ban. The earlier survey found that 41% of respondents had tried to quit, with 12% saying they planned to start smoking again once the ban was over. Over 70% of smokers who quit did so before 2 May 2020.
The South African government’s major reason for banning cigarettes is on account of the health hazards that it can cause and also the possibility of people venturing out in spite of the lockdown for buying cigarettes, thereby leading to violation of social distancing.
The online survey also revealed the sources of procuring cigarettes. Majority of respondents had purchased cigarettes through informal sources as against formal retail outlets, which were the suppliers of cigarettes before the lockdown. The informal sources include friends and family (27%), spaza shops (25%), street vendors (11%) and WhatsApp groups (8%). Another important finding of the survey was that people indicated they regularly shared individual cigarette sticks during lockdown. The number of such respondents increased from 1.7% before the lockdown to 8.9%.
More than half of all the cigarettes sold were brands from three companies affiliated with the Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA), suxh as Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation 26%), Carnilinx (14%) and Best Tobacco Company (11%).
