2025
March 31, 2025: Alcohol and cigarettes in the 2025 Budget — anchor policy in data, not industry spin, Daily Maverick. By Corné van Walbeek, Sam Filby and Nicole Vellios.
March 11, 2025: Alarming rise of vaping among South African schoolchildren, IOL Opinion. By Samantha Filby and Richard van Zyl Smit.
March 6, 2025: Vaping hits alarming levels among South African teens – new study of fee-paying schools, The Conversation. By Samantha Filby. Co-published by Tolerance.ca, and 7 March: by Primedia+.
2024
November 19, 2024: Tobacco isn’t a good investment – study shows a decline in stock prices since 2016, The Conversation. By Corné van Walbeek and Tim Evans. Co-published 20 November: Econotimes, Modern Ghana and the Tolerance Webzine, and as as "Tobacco has lost its flavour" in The Citizen on 21 November 2024.
Smoking in Africa: study of 16 countries shows higher taxes would help young smokers quit or cut down, The Conversation. By Corné van Walbeek and Samantha Filby.
March 26, 2024: Failure to end the illicit cigarette trade has cost SA billions, Business Live. By Nicole Vellios and Corné van Walbeek.
February 28, 2024: As 2024 Budget shows, SA’s legal cigarette market continues to haemorrhage (Up in Smoke Op-Ed), Daily Maverick. By Corné van Walbeek and Samantha Filby.
2023
July 10, 2023: Legislative limbo on e-cigarettes must end to close the information gap on health risks (Vaping Op-Ed), Daily Maverick. By Kirsten van der Zee.
July 10, 2023: New vaping tax misses the mark, Econ3x3. By Nicole Vellios and Corné van Walbeek.
May 29, 2023: Drink up, it’s closing time: South African study calculates that limiting opening hours will save lives, The Conversation. By Sam Filby.
January 10, 2023: Higher tobacco prices leads to declining use, Cape Times. Op-Ed by Sam Filby.
2022
December 14, 2022: Time to make cigarette taxes more effective in Mozambique, Econ3x3. By Vanessa Darsamo, Zunda Chisha, Georgina Bonet Arroyo and Corné van Walbeek.
December 5, 2022: More South Africans are smoking - higher taxes and stronger law enforcement are needed, The Conversation. By Sam Filby and Corné van Walbeek.
October 12, 2022: Relentless targeting of youth by e-cigarette manufacturers poses significant future health risks, Daily Maverick. Op-Ed by Nicole Vellios.
September 7, 2022: How big is the illicit cigarette market in South Africa? Econ3x3. By Nicole Vellios.
May 9, 2022: Roaring ’20s of the illicit cigarette trade, Business Day. Op-Ed by Kirsten van der Zee, Sam Filby and Corné van Walbeek.
March 1, 2022: Health taxes: some observations from the 2022 budget. Business Day. Op-Ed by Sam Filby and Corné van Walbeek.
2021
October 20, 2021: We unpack what some African countries are doing about tobacco control, The Conversation. By Corné van Walbeek and Zunda Chisha. Also published here:
September 20, 2021: Up in smoke: Batsa’s cigarette pricing strategy has backfired, exposing its greedy, grubby underbelly, Daily Maverick. By Corné van Walbeek and Samantha Filby.
August 2, 2021. Increasing Revenue & Protecting Public Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Inter Press Service. Op-Ed by Sophapan Ratanachena-McWhortor and Hana Ross.
May 27, 2021: Tobacco control: South Africa must do more to help people quit smoking. News24 Opinion, by Sam Filby and Corné van Walbeek.
February 24, 2021: Close, but no cigar: Excise tax on cigarettes should have been increased by 50%. Daily Maverick. By Corné van Walbeek and Samantha Filby.
February 17, 2021: Tobacco sales: smoked out. Financial Mail feature by Corné van Walbeek, Robert Hill, Sam Filby and Kirsten van der Zee.
2020
July 21, 2020: Tobacco Industry Factoid on Illicit Trade Leading Governments Astray. Inter Press Service. By Sophapan Ratanachena-McWhortor and Hana Ross.
March 5, 2020: Trade in illicit cigarettes on the way to being stubbed out. Daily Maverick. Op-Ed by Corné van Walbeek, Kirsten van der Zee and Nicole Vellios.
March 5, 2020: Taxes on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are not nearly high enough. Business Day. Opinion by Sam Filby.
February 5, 2020: Philip Morris’s reinvention as crusader for public health is disingenuous. Business Day: Letter, by Nicole Vellios, together with Leslie London (UCT School of Public Health), Savera Kalideen and Sharon Nyatsanza (both from the National Council against Smoking).
2019
August 4, 2019: Sifting out facts in the tactics used by the tobacco industry against plain packaging, Daily Maverick. Op-Ed by Nicole Vellios and Sam Filby
June 9, 2019: Shameless and blameless: how big tobacco is trying to dupe everyone — and what SARS should do about it. Daily Maverick. Op-Ed by Michael Eads, Hana Ross and Savera Kalideen
May 2019: Tobacco taxation in-country technical assistance mission in Chad, WHO FCTC Coordination Platform / Knowledge Hubs Blog. By Ernest Ngeh Tingum.
May 19, 2019: No more cheap drinks could mean fewer cheap drunks, study shows. The Sunday Times. Opinion, by Corné van Walbeek and Grieve Chelwa.
April 14, 2019: Is it time to introduce a minimum unit price on alcohol? Business Day. Opinion by Corné van Waalbeek and Grieve Chelwa.
March 4, 2019: SA ranks sixth globally as a nation of drinkers. Business Day. Opinion by Corné van Waalbeek and Grieve Chelwa.