Statement from the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) – Sharon Nyatsanza, Deputy Director 

SARS should not be accepting donations or gifts from the tobacco companies. A Fin24 special report published earlier today reveals that SARS accepted donations of equipment used to destroy illicit cigarettes. This is like partnering with the fox to protect the hen house. 

 Instead of taking gifts from tobacco manufacturers, SARS should be investigating all tobacco companies, on allegations of tax evasion and complicity in illicit trade. None of the tobacco companies’ hands are clean, and SARS must start to see tobacco companies as part of the problem of illicit trade and not the solution.

Tobacco control could have greatest impact on reducing cardiovascular disease

Shaistah Bux comes from a family of smokers, and lost several family members to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The death of her father from a heart attack when she was 16 was devastating, but when two of her uncles also had a heart attacks within months of each other, the tables turned. Shaistah, a smoker since the age of 9, had become a 2-pack a day chain-smoker by 31. She immediately destroyed all her cigarettes and smoking paraphernalia and quit cold turkey. Now, almost two years later, her own risk of heart disease has dramatically reduced.

“I feel so much better, although it is still very challenging to be in smoky social environments, to see people smoking and to be around friends who smoke,” says Bux.  “Having struggled with my own nicotine addiction and having seen how smoking can destroy families, I wish people wouldn’t smoke in public spaces and that young people could be more aware of the harms and not be exposed to cigarettes as much.” 

The South African government is not doing enough to stop tobacco industry interference with policy. This is revealed by the 2021 Tobacco Industry Interference Index Report (index) for South Africa launched today. The index is an annual review of how governments protect public health policies from tobacco industry influence. The index shows a decline in efforts to protect government policy and processes from tobacco industry influence. South Africa has deteriorated 6 points indicating increases in tobacco industry interference. The index also confirms calls for a tighter grip on tobacco company activities. 

Tobacco control advocates and health organisations are reacting strongly to the damning report on BAT activities in Africa, British American Tobacco in South Africa: Any Means Necessary, published by global tobacco industry watchdog STOP. BAT activities are further exposed in an investigation by BBC Panorama: Dirty Secrets of the Cigarette Business.   BAT, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, appears to have crossed the line of ethics and legality to keep people addicted to its products, stifling attempts to reduce tobacco use.  According to the reports, BAT used potentially questionable payments to try to influence tobacco control policies and undermine competitors. The company allegedly paid varying amounts to politicians, journalists, competitors’ staff and more. Analysis of leaked industry documents and court affidavits suggests BAT was engaged in possibly illegal informant networks, state capture and the potential smuggling of its own products in Africa. As is to be expected, BAT has denied the charges.