Are tax hikes really driving up illicit trade, or is the industry narrative just smoke and mirrors? Professor Corné van Walbeek, Director of UCT’s Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP), joins John Maytham to unpack key insights into why beer consumption is thriving despite tax increases, how Treasury’s tiered alcohol tax model is encouraging healthier choices, and why South Africa is losing billions each year to illicit cigarettes. It is a data-driven deep dive into the numbers, the narrative, and the policy path forward.