Toxic skin-lightening creams are still sold freely across South Africa, despite clear health dangers and the legacy of apartheid.
In the dying days of apartheid, South Africa banned the sale of cosmetic creams that were designed to make black people look whiter. On 10 August 1990, the National Party health minister Dr Rina Venter banned the importation, manufacture and sale of cosmetic skin lighteners and also banned any products that claimed to “bleach”, “lighten” or “whiten” people’s skins.
