South Africans puffed their way through 25 billion cigarettes last year, according to a ”social report” released by British American Tobacco SA (BAT) on Wednesday.
The report is part of the company’s bid to promote itself as a ”responsible corporate citizen” at a time when the tobacco industry is coming under increasing pressure worldwide.
The report says the tobacco industry and smokers in South Africa contribute nearly R5,5-billion in excise and VAT alone to the government exchequer.
”The total number of cigarettes sold in South Africa last year was 25 billion (1,2 billion packets of cigarettes),” the company says.
A further 148 million smuggled cigarettes were seized last year — up from 27 million in 1999.
BAT says it prepared the report, based in part on interaction with ”stakeholders”, because it is aware that its products pose ”real risks to health” and that the industry ”can be controversial”.
”We therefore believe it is all the more important to manage our business responsibly and develop new ways of demonstrating wider corporate responsibility.
”From our perspective, one of the benefits will be enhanced trust, respect and integrity from external parties.”
The stakeholders included government officials, tobacco farmers, suppliers and employees.
BAT says it is disappointed that the National Council Against Smoking, South Africa’s largest anti-tobacco NGO, chose to boycott the stakeholder dialogue sessions.
It says it will explore the possibility of running, or helping run, a national ”youth smoking prevention programme”, and will continue to lobby the health ministry for the age limit for tobacco sales to be raised from 16 to 18 years.
It is also considering making a quit-smoking course part of the medical aid package of all its employees.
It has promised to investigate the viability of providing ashtrays at the entrance to non-smoking areas to alleviate littering.
In a so-called ”other report” released earlier this week in anticipation of the BAT document, the international anti-tobacco NGO Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said one of its major criticisms of BAT’s social reporting process was that the company ”cannot even be candid about the very essence of its business”.
”It sells an addictive drug and the physical dependence of its customers on its products is the central feature of its business.
”BAT’s internal documents show that it has recognised the addictive properties of its product internally for several decades, but it still denies and obfuscates today.”
Ash said BAT internationally had over 150 initiatives supposedly aimed at reducing youth smoking.
”We regard these as empty public relations gestures. Public health experience and evidence indicates that these are worthless and even likely to make smoking more attractive by defining it as an ‘adult choice’.” – Sapa