Carte Blanche coming up: Illegal cigarettes

The Sunday, 4 January episode of Carte Blanche delves into South Africa’s illicit cigarette trade, exposing how hundreds of smugglers cross the border daily.

According to the report, smugglers turn rural areas into battlegrounds and force landowners to either flee, look away or profit from the crime.

The multibillion-rand underground economy has overtaken the legal market, costing the state billions in lost tax revenue each year.

Despite government pledges to clamp down, corruption and porous borders continue to fuel the trade, as Carte Blanche traces the hidden supply chain from border crossings to spaza shop counters to reveal how the operation survives.

Credibility among South African viewers

Carte Blanche is a South African investigative journalism television series that airs on M-Net every Sunday at 19:00.

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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