It’s been 123 days since South Africans could legally purchase tobacco products.

You’ll be well aware that making something illegal doesn’t stop it from happening, and the black market trade has continued to flourish over the past four or so months.

Meanwhile, the government’s reasoning for the ban has been picked apart by multiple studies, the latest of which was conducted by UCT, showing that the public health benefit has been negligible at best.

In a recent segment, Carte Blanche dug a little deeper:

The illegal trade in cigarettes in South Africa has been booming for decades but when lockdown regulations banned the sale of smokes, it increased demand in the black market like never before.

Overnight, furious smokers became blue-collar criminals illegally purchasing cigarettes from their neighbourhood dealers. But small-time dealers lead to high-stakes criminal syndicates.

Now in this special investigation, Carte Blanche tracks how the sale of illicit smokes continues to be the catalyst for cigarette smuggling rings and lifts the veil to reveal those who really benefit from this lucrative business.

I can think of a few prominent names, but let’s not go down that route.

Watch the entire clip if you have time, and make sure you stick around for the classic zingers from the 12-minute mark:

[source:carteblanche]