Governments around the world impose excise taxes on products like alcohol and tobacco to reduce their demand. The South African government has recently implemented a tax on vaping products for the same reason. However, the new vaping tax has enraged vaping lobby groups and manufacturers who argue that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. They also claim that the tax will spawn an illicit industry, that people will go back to smoking traditional cigarettes, and that the tax will not dissuade the youth from starting vaping.In this article, we analyze the price increase claims and the effectiveness of the excise tax regime on vaping products. The Dr Yunus Carrim from Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products (REEP) conclude that the vaping tax is flawed because it is not well-targeted at reducing the consumption of vaping products among the youth.