British American Tobacco South Africa has confirmed that 200 jobs are on the line as further losses in cigarette volumes were reported.
BAT said today that it has begun a consultative process with staff in line with Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act around the restructuring of the business.
A spokesperson said their volume loss was almost entirely a result of the continued impact of the growth in illicit cigarette trade and the unconstitutional ban on cigarette sales implemented during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
British American Tobacco says in 2019 the company permanently employed around 1 800 people, but since 2020 it has been forced to retrench more than 30% of its workforce and lost around 40% of its cigarette sales as the illicit market accelerated.
