"It's always been in the interest of big tobacco companies to have a very close relationship with government, both at a policy level, as well as, at the law enforcement level. And that relationship is incestuous," says Johann van Loggerenberg, a former executive at the South African Revenue Service.
  • In South Africa, tobacco companies big and small use all sorts of schemes to dodge the taxman. Our reporter, Joan van Dyk, got the details of exactly how these scams work from Johann van Loggerenberg, a former executive at the South African Revenue Service.
  • “Sin spies”, “travelex spies”, “fixers” and their impact on South African society are all documented in Van Loggerenberg’s 2019 book Tobacco Wars, along with other types of bad actors in industry, law enforcement, and the legal fraternity.
  • This type of fraud has a human impact as well: Van Loggerenberg was the target of an organised smear campaign, and his family was spied on.
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Joan van Dyk is Bhekisisa's news editor.

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Danny Booysen is a freelance audio technical producer and has over 30 years of experience in the broadcast industry.

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