Nataliya Pushkina, ALPINE Group's partner for the Middle East and Africa, says:

The latter will eliminate the price advantage enjoyed by Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu, which broke larger orders into smaller lots that were not subject to tax. Ultimately, this creates conditions for the development of the e-commerce sector in South Africa and imports.

The proposed changes could help attract marketplaces, trading companies and distributors to the South African market, she believes.

In 2024, online retail sales in South Africa grew by 35%, while offline sales grew by 2.5%, according to the World Wide Worx report ‘Online Retail in South Africa - 2025’. She estimates that by the end of 2025, e-commerce will account for approximately 10% of South Africa's total retail turnover, compared to 8% at the end of the previous year.

‘The introduction of electronic invoicing and VAT reporting (e-invoicing) will speed up the process of obtaining VAT deductions,’ - Pushkina notes.

Amazon has already launched a marketplace in the country, and companies from the CIS are also showing interest in entering the market.

‘There is no strong bureaucratic pressure, but connections are still important for starting and doing business in South Africa,’ - Nataliya emphasises.

Currently, Russian business in South Africa is mainly represented in two areas: large mining and metallurgical businesses, as well as small businesses in the IT and wine-making sectors.

For more information on how tax changes are opening up the South African market to Russian companies, see the RBC article.