The 14 September episode of Carte Blanche exposes the scale of South Africa’s illegal cigarette trade, revealing how weak immigration policies and lax enforcement allow contraband to flood the market unchecked.
From spaza shop shelves to bold cross-border smuggling operations, the illicit trade has grown into a multi-billion-rand criminal economy that is draining the country of much-needed revenue.
Despite the massive losses to the state and the damage to legitimate businesses, smugglers continue to operate trip by trip, case by case, with little fear of being stopped. What seems like a cheap smoke is in fact fuelling one of the country’s most costly underground industries.
Its first episode aired on 21 August 1988 and over the last 34-plus years has earned credibility among South African viewers for its investigation into corruption, consumer issues, and current events.
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