Don Emmanuel Cigars has announced its expansion into South Africa, marking the brand’s first entry into the African continent. Distribution will be handled by Amano Cigars, a leading South African importer and distributor that also operates the Pedro Portia Cigar & Champagne Lounge in Gauteng. The move follows recent expansion across the Caribbean and Latin America, driven by growing demand for the brand’s debut line, Anunnaki, co-blended with master blender Eladio Díaz and produced in the Dominican Republic.
All three Anunnaki vitolas—Anu, Ki, and Corona Fina—will be available in South Africa. Company executives said the expansion reflects a disciplined international growth strategy focused on markets with established premium cigar cultures and appreciation for craftsmanship.
South Africa’s Revenue Service (Sars) estimates it lost R40 billion ($2.4 billion) in excise revenue between 2020 and 2025 due to the illicit tobacco trade, a problem that worsened during the Covid-19 ban on cigarette and tobacco sales, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said. Responding to a parliamentary question, Godongwana said the National Treasury has adopted a differentiated approach to excise duty increases, taking into account market dynamics, illicit trade, and fiscal needs.
Tobacco producers have suggested that high excise duties have pushed consumers toward cheaper illegal cigarettes, deepening black-market activity; however, Godongwana counters that excise duties on cigarettes have not been raised above inflation since the 2023 budget, helping cigarette and tobacco excise revenue recover 8.7% to R9bn ($540 million) in 2024/25, though still below pre-pandemic levels.
To curb illicit trade, Sars has stepped up enforcement, recording 576 seizures worth R265 million ($15.9 million) in 2024/25 and 233 seizures worth R135.5 million ($8.1 million) so far in 2025. Measures include audits, license suspensions, and CCTV monitoring at manufacturing sites.
South Africa’s proposed Control of Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Bill, 2018, includes “radical changes,” according to Caxton Network News, that would overhaul the country’s tobacco laws by introducing 100% smoke-free indoor public spaces, banning point-of-sale displays and vending machines, and bringing e-cigarettes under strict regulation. One of the most contentious provisions, according to the report, appears to extend restrictions to private spaces, including homes and vehicles, through a clause linked to the Sectional Titles Act. Despite enforcement concerns raised by the South African Police Service and National Prosecuting Authority, the clause was retained on the grounds of protecting workers’ constitutional rights.
The bill would also mandate plain packaging for all tobacco products, while e-cigarettes and vapes would face rules identical to those for combustible cigarettes. Requests from industry to exempt vaping products from display bans, plain packaging, and smoke-free rules were rejected.
Additional measures in the bill include bans on single-stick sales, vending-machine sales, and the public display of all tobacco and vaping products. After extensive public hearings earlier this year, the Department of Health was expected to present responses to submissions in November, but the parliamentary committee rejected its document and delayed the meeting to early next year. The bill remains under consideration in the Portfolio Committee on Health.
Health and policy leaders at the Progressive Business Forum (PBF) Colloquium on Wellness and Healthy Lifestyles in South Africa called for a science-driven approach to public health, urging the government to prioritize harm reduction over ideology. Former Gauteng Health MEC Dr Gwen Ramokgopa said South Africa must extend harm reduction principles—long used in HIV prevention and road safety—to emerging health risks such as tobacco and substance use. “Harm reduction is not permissiveness, it’s progress,” she said, noting that public health must help people make safer choices rather than impose moral judgments.
Dr Percy Selepe, Acting COO of the Gauteng Department of Health, said “science must lead policy.” He and other speakers argued that South Africa’s punitive, abstinence-based approach has failed to curb smoking and substance use. Harm reduction advocates, including Professor Monique Marks, criticized the lack of government funding for evidence-based interventions, noting that all existing programs are run by non-profits. Marks stressed that switching from combustible cigarettes to regulated smoke-free products could dramatically reduce health risks and ease the burden on the healthcare system.
Professors Obedy Mwantembe and Tivani Mashamba-Thompson called for African-led research into nicotine science and integrated harm reduction services addressing HIV and Hepatitis C. They emphasized that compassion and science must work hand in hand to reduce stigma and improve outcomes. If Gauteng’s evidence-first stance becomes national policy, speakers said, South Africa could modernize its public health strategy — replacing bans and punishment with regulation, education, and empathy. “Better health contributes to positive growth,” Ramokgopa said. “Collaboration between science, policy, and society is not optional — it’s essential.”
South Africa’s cigarette trade has been “captured by criminal syndicates,” with three-fourths of all cigarettes now sold coming from illicit sources, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) said this week. Speaking to Parliament’s health committee on October 22, SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said the illegal trade has drained billions in tax revenue and poses a growing threat to the economy. Research from the University of Cape Town, Ipsos, and Tax Justice SA shows the illicit tobacco market has ballooned from 19% in 2014 to 75% in 2025, costing the state roughly R84 billion ($4.9 billion) in excise losses between 2020 and 2022.
Kieswetter described the trade as “industrial-scale criminality,” involving money laundering through gold refineries, property schemes, and offshore investments. He linked the rise of illicit tobacco to weakened enforcement between 2014 and 2018, during the Zuma era, which saw oversight dismantled and revenue stagnate despite steady consumption.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed that the illicit cigarette trade has become a “national priority threat” linked to organized crime, saying the trade now operates through five-tiered syndicates spanning financiers, smugglers, and distributors connected to drug trafficking and human smuggling networks. Most contraband enters through Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana, it said.
By Professor Praneet Valodia, Director Praneet Valodia Consulting
I am a healthcare professional. I have chaired Drugs and Therapeutics committees, evaluated clinical trials for over two decades and been at the forefront of innovation in therapeutic technologies. With that experience comes a responsibility to speak when evidence is ignored. What I cannot do and will not do is remain silent in the face of flawed thinking, especially when it affects public health.
South Africa is on the verge of adopting a new Tobacco Bill. In its current form, this legislation treats combustible cigarettes and non-combustible nicotine-containing products as the same. That is a serious problem. The science says they are not the same, and pretending otherwise undermines the very goals we are trying to achieve in public health.
I have independently evaluated the vast data I recently presented to the Health Portfolio Committee using standard criteria that are applied in assessing scientific studies. I have used this same approach in evaluating new drugs and health innovations. When applying it to tobacco harm reduction, the evidence is clear: switching from combustible cigarettes to non-combustible alternatives significantly reduces harm.
The combustion of tobacco produces between 6,000 and 7,000 chemicals. Among these, around 100 are harmful or potentially harmful. Non-combustible nicotine-containing products produce no combustion and 60 to 99 percent fewer harmful chemicals1. This is based on an independent evaluation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA), a leading authority in tobacco and medicines regulation. Nicotine levels are the same but nicotine is not the harmful substance. It’s the other chemicals, nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc. which cause disease.
The U.S. FDA evaluation of a heat-not-burn technology showed reductions of 82 percent in carcinogens, 91 percent in respiratory toxicants and 94 percent in reproductive toxicants compared to combustible cigarettes. Heavy metals that are classified as carcinogenic to humans, such as nickel, chromium, cadmium and lead, were either undetectable or drastically reduced in these products1-3.
As an example, an evaluation of an E-cigarette by the U.S. FDA showed a 65 to 100 percent reduction in harmful chemicals compared to combustible cigarettes. Abuse liability is lower, and lab studies show no mutagenic, cytotoxic or genotoxic effects4.
The Cochrane Collaboration’s 2024 report, based on randomised trials in multiple countries, found nicotine e-cigarettes showed significantly greater efficacy than nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation. Safety profiles are similar between nicotine e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapy5. Similarly, a study by Hajek et al.6 published in the New England Journal of Medicine a randomized trial that showed 18 percent abstinence at 52 weeks for E-cigarettes versus 9.9 percent for nicotine replacement therapy.
Risks of myocardial infarction, stroke and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are reduced by 52, 35, and 54 percent respectively with vaping versus smoking7.
Sweden’s experience with snus shows dramatically lower lung cancer and cardiovascular death rates, three times lower than the European Union, where snus is banned. This is evidence that tobacco harm reduction saves lives8.
Nicotine is addictive but not toxic at the doses used in these products. Nicotine toxicity depends on dose. It can be toxic if injected or ingested in large amounts but aerosolised nicotine in these devices is considered to be safe. Nicotine is not carcinogenic9 nor does it cause heart or lung disease, according to current evidence7,10.
Claims that vaping acts as a gateway to smoking are also unsupported11. I have looked at numerous studies and could not find evidence that vaping is a gateway to smoking. We must base decisions on scientific evaluation of the gateway theory to smoking.
South African youth smoking prevalence is very low at 2.08 percent12 and that should be celebrated. Smoking prevalences in youth is low in many countries although non-combustible nicotine-containing products are freely available. This may indicate the non-combustible nicotine-containing products are not a gateway to smoking. We need to understand the addictiveness of nicotine relative to other substances, like alcohol and cannabis.
The current tobacco bill fails to differentiate combustible cigarettes from non-combustible products despite this overwhelming evidence. I have a moral obligation to provide smokers with evidence-based options — safer alternatives.
We must adopt a regulatory framework like the FDA’s, which weighs benefits and risks for the population, including youth and vulnerable groups, based on the net benefit to public health.
The way forward is not to abandon regulation. It is to regulate more intelligently. We need to differentiate products based on harm, just as the FDA does.
We need good policies and these policies need to be evidence-based. We need consistency in decision-making relative to other substances such as cannabis. We need an independent scientific committee to evaluate the evidence and the reports should be made publicly available. Given the volume of misinformation, establishing an independent scientific committee is not just important. It’s essential.
The bill needs to be transformative and including tobacco harm reduction is a key part of that. We need penalties that are proportionate. And we must protect the autonomy of people trying to quit smoking by giving them access to safer alternatives.
The focus of tobacco harm reduction should be on the 11.5 million smokers in South Africa. This is where the public health problem is. We need a paradigm shift. We must include tobacco harm reduction in the bill or condemn millions to preventable death and disease.
Ignoring this evidence is unconscionable.
References
U.S. FDA: Scientific Review of Modified Risk Tobacco Product Application (MRTPA) under Section 911(d) of the FD&C Act – Technical Project Lead – 5/12/2016.
U.S. FDA Briefing document, Meeting of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, January 24-25, 2018.
U.S. FDA: Scientific Review of Modified Risk Tobacco Product Application (MRTPA) under Section 911(d) of the FD&C Act – Technical Project Lead – 7/7/2020.
U.S. FDA: Technical Project Lead (TPL) Review of PMTAs. NJOY. 2020.
Lindson N, Butler AR, McRobbie H, Bullen C, Begh R, Theodoulou A, Notley C, Rigotti NA, Turner T, Livingstone-Banks J, Morris T, Hartmann-Boyce J. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2024.
Hajek P, Phillips-Waller A, Przulj D, Pesola F, Smith KM, Bisal N, Li J, Parrott S, Sasieni P, Dawkins L, Ross L, Goniewicz M. et al. et al. A Randomized Trial of E-Cigarettes versus Nicotine-Replacement Therapy. N Engl J Med. 2019; 380:629 -637.
Lee PN, Farsalinos K. Comparing smoking-related disease rates from e-cigarette use with those from tobacco cigarette use: a reanalysis of a recently-published study. Harm Reduction Journal. 2025; 22: 78.
Smoke Free Sweden. No Smoke Less Harm. 2024.
International Agency for Research on Cancer. WHO. List of classifications by cancer sites with sufficient or limited evidence in humans, IARC monographs Volumes 1-139.
Balfour DJK, Benowitz NL, Colby SM, et al. Balancing consideration of the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes. Am J Public Health. 2021; 111(9):1661–1672.
Polosa R, Casale TB, Tashkin DP. A close look at vaping in adolescents and young adults in the United States. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2022; 10(11):2831-2842.
Van Zyl-Smit RN, Filby S, Soin G, Hoare J, Van den Bosch A. Kurten S. Electronic cigarette usage amongst high school students in South Africa: a mixed methods approach. eClinicalMedicine. 2024; 78:102970.
South Africa’s Hawks (a specialized police unit) and the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) secured high court orders to seize vehicles used in the smuggling of illicit cigarettes from Zimbabwe, marking a significant step in efforts to curb cross-border tobacco crime.
The Limpopo High Court granted a forfeiture order for a Freightliner Argosy truck and two trailers, intercepted at Beitbridge border post in March while carrying Zimbabwean-made cigarettes. The vehicles, worth $48,000, were confiscated after the arrest of the driver. In a separate case, authorities also secured a forfeiture order for a VW bus valued at $9,100 in a 2023 case of transporting illicit cigarettes.
Officials say one-third of the cigarettes in South Africa are smuggled from Zimbabwe. Smugglers reportedly buy cigarette boxes for $120 in Zimbabwe and resell them for up to $840 in South Africa. Authorities have pledged continued action against smugglers, as tobacco tax evasion and black-market sales remain a major challenge to public health and revenue collection.
British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) accused local cigarette manufacturers of driving the country’s booming illicit tobacco trade, which it says is costing the state an estimated R28 billion ($1.6 billion) in lost annual tax revenue. The company’s regulatory head, Johny Moloto, said the crisis has shifted from a cross-border issue to a “homegrown problem,” with 76.7% of retail outlets selling cigarettes below the Minimum Collectable Tax price for a box of cigarettes, which “should sell for above R26.22 ($1.47) a pack after accounting for levies.”
“We have repeatedly shown who the culprits are,” Moloto said. “If SARS [South African Revenue Service] and the police wanted to act, they could. Today.”
A study, commissioned by BAT and independently conducted by Ipsos, revealed that 14 of the 23 manufacturers involved in the illicit trade are based in South Africa, accounting for 91% of the illegal market. Gold Leaf Tobacco Company was named as the most prevalent brand in these sales, with nearly 90% of its products selling below the legal threshold. BATSA had 1.5% of its products selling below the minimum.
Moloto urged SARS and police to act on existing intelligence and called for stricter enforcement, including SARS’ presence at manufacturing sites and a national minimum retail price to ease policing.
South Africa’s Parliament is reviewing the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, which proposes strict regulations on all nicotine products—treating e-cigarettes, heated tobacco, and traditional cigarettes the same. Proponents of harm-reducing products warn that treating all nicotine products equally could stifle innovation and keep safer alternatives out of reach.
The debate comes at a critical juncture for South Africa’s public health and economy. The current bill includes plain packaging, graphic health warnings, a ban on advertising, public vaping restrictions, and limits on vape flavors. Industry leaders like Philip Morris International (PMI) argue this approach ignores scientific evidence showing reduced harm from smoke-free products, urging a differentiated regulatory framework like those in the UK and Japan.
PMI says equal restrictions discourage smokers from switching to less harmful alternatives. But health groups and some lawmakers remain cautious, citing youth vaping risks and insufficient long-term safety data.
Through the proposed Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, South Africa is actively working “to combat tobacco use,” including e-cigarettes and hookahs, according to the Deputy Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla.
“We want to make sure we regulate these upcoming products because currently they’re not covered,” Phaahla said. “That is, e-cigarettes and the hubbly bubblies [hookahs]. We want to make sure they are properly regulated because currently they are everywhere.”
Phaahla said the proposed Bill seeks to implement significant changes to tobacco regulation, including the introduction of plain packaging, the expansion of smoke-free zones, stricter controls on emerging tobacco products, regulation of e-cigarettes, and enhanced support for tobacco cessation programs.
The bill is expected to proceed to Parliament, with the government confident it will pass despite pushback from those pushing for harm reduction.
