The Tobacco and Cotton Research Institute in South Africa is responsible for the development and maintenance of locally developed cultivars. Breeding work in the past was concerned mostly with the development of multiple disease resistance in flue-cured, air-cured, Burley and Oriental tobaccos. Powdery mildew, tobacco mosaic virus and black shank resistances were of major concern although resistance to black root rot, Granville wilt and root knot also featured in the program. In the case of powdery mildew both resistance types, recessive and dominant were used _ Digluta-type resistance for both powdery mildew and TMV being the predominant one. Black shank resistance was in most instances derived from a local selection out of Hicks. Resistance to both races 2 and 4 of Meloidogyne incognita and M. javanica has been introduced to the different tobacco types and for flue-cured tobacco these resistances have been confirmed by independent Australian research using the South African material. Recently complaints from the local cigarette manufacturers regarding the quality of the South African flue-cured, Burley and Oriental tobaccos led to a re-evaluation of the multiple adversary resistance breeding approach. Material introduced for the USA that do not carry PM or TMV resistance in general were found to be of a better quality. A few exceptions, however, exist and can be of value to other countries as additions to their germplasm collections.