Latest news with #ZinhleTyikwe
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Proposed smoking regulations ignore 'illicit trade crisis', says consumer body
South Africa's proposed smoking regulations ignore the country's 'illicit trade crisis', the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) said on Tuesday. In its parliamentary submission to the portfolio committee on health, CGCSA said the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill was a 'plug-and-play' import of foreign models that completely disregard the illegal production, smuggling, distribution and sale of tobacco products in the country. It said while the council, which represents more than 9,000 South African companies, supported evidence-based tobacco control to advance public health, it was concerned about the 'unintended consequences, particularly economic harm and the likely expansion of the illicit tobacco trade, which is estimated to cost South Africa at least R18bn per annum'. CGCSA CEO Zinhle Tyikwe said the bill adopted a one-size-fits-all approach which did not account for South Africa's unique context. An illicit tobacco market now accounted for an estimated 60—70% of sales. 'We are seeing shortcomings in the bill, particularly where there is a 'plug-and-play' from other foreign models that may be similar to South Africa but are not South African. Here we are in the middle of an illicit trade crisis, not just in tobacco but also in pharmaceuticals, fraud and liquor. As an industry, we deal with issues that are critical, because if people consume alcohol, food or pharmaceutical medicines that are illicit, there is a real risk that people will die. We take our work seriously,' said Tyikwe
The Citizen
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
VAT U-turn: How businesses felt the brunt of political roulette
The decision to scrap the 0.5% VAT increase has forced businesses to abandon costly plans to prepare customers. The government's reversal of a decision to increase Value-Added Tax (VAT) has left businesses scrambling. Communication from financial service providers preparing customer for the 0.5% increase from 1 May appeared on mobile phones across the country in the days following the vote on the fiscal framework earlier this month. The 11th hour revocation of the hike has now forced service providers to amend pending bills and product pricing. Resetting of increase plans As politicians fought for the limelight to take credit for the decision to scrap the increase, business owners have counted wasted income. 'The compliance readiness came at huge costs, and costs will now be further incurred to implement National Treasury's reversal of the VAT increase,' Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) CEO Zinhle Tyikwe said. Large corporates have needed to ramp up human resource capacity to revert their systems to pre-budget fiasco settings. 'While the sudden reversal does impact Discovery's internal processes, our systems and communications teams are working hard to ensure the necessary changes are implemented,' Discovery's media team told The Citizen. Added stress was placed on consumers too, as they were forced to look at their own budgets, but those increases are likely to now be reversed. 'There will be no increase to any fees and charges. We are currently implementing the VAT change roll-back on our systems and due care is being taken to attend to all technical changes so that there is no impact to any fees,' Nedbank assure The Citizen. 'Any discrepancies that may inadvertently arise will be rectified accordingly,' they added. Zero-rated product list expansion gone The easier the transaction, the easier it will be to adjust, as illustrated by convener of the National Liquor Traders Council, Lucky Ntimane. 'Given the simplicity of our operations as it pertains to point of sale, the reversal of VAT will not impact our business systems at all,' Ntimane replied to The Citizen. 'Without a doubt the increase would have affected our businesses because we were going to have to bear with the above inflation excise increases as well as VAT. So we welcome this new development,' he said. However, large grocery retailers went as far as putting together national project teams to deal with the VAT increase, efforts that will be put on ice. 'We are relieved that this will afford our shoppers and South Africans in general a financial sigh of relief,' Gerhard Ackermann, National Merchandise Executive at The SPAR Group said. 'Following these developments, we are ensuring that our customers are not inconvenienced by placing the proper financial controls in place for smooth customer continuity,' he assured. While politicians proselyted about saving the poor, Tyikwe lamented how the expansion of the basket of zero-rated VAT products had also fallen away. 'South Africans are hard hit by the cost of living and the zero-rating of the additional products would have gone a long way to not only cushion consumers but also improve healthy eating and healthy lifestyles,' Tyikwe stated. NOW READ: A R1 billion U-turn: Scrapping the VAT increase leaves no winners, just absolute chaos
