Several shocking new reports, released by tobacco industry watchdog STOP and covering whistleblower accounts and leaked industry documents, have laid out the latest damning evidence of the tobacco industry’s relentless campaign of dirty dealings in Africa. Tobacco giant British American Tobacco (BAT) apparently ran a mass surveillance operation to spy on its rivals, as well as doling out...
Local tobacco companies’ market share quadrupled during the country’s temporary sales ban in 2020, overtaking Big Tobacco’s pre-ban near-monopoly on South Africa’s tobacco industry. The sales ban did cause people to smoke less and prevented more than 2 000 tobacco-related deaths, but at the expense of progress made to curb illicit trade in...
Customs officers of the South African Revenue Service (Sars) have announced that they have seized illegal cigarettes around Gauteng which amount to R2.4 million. In a statement Sars said 22 shops were raided in Kempton Park, Pretoria and Johannesburg. This was a joint operation between Sars Customs, the SAPS, the Department of Home Affairs and...
