The legal multinationals' market share of the sale of cigarettes went from 70% (pre-ban) to 33% (in ban) to 50% (post-ban), a survey shows. The prohibition did not prevent smoking either: 85% of smokers kept smoking during the cigarette ban, only 8% quit and half of those who stopped smoking indicated they started smoking again once the ban was lifted. Tobacco sales were prohibited between March 25 and August 17 as part of the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were about 6.7 million adult smokers in SA before the start of the lockdown, the report estimates.