couple things.
One time I was at the counter checking in. I had weighed my bags prior. I had put my bag up on the scales and it was close to what I had weighed at home. the lady asked me to move down to another checker and when I put my bag on her scale it had my bag several pounds overweight. I brought this to her attention, and she didn't charge the overweight fee.

Another thing, while they are not selling a product by weight, they are charging for a service for it. Anywhere else in the USA if you did that your scales would have to be certified and I don't see any stickers on check in scales.

I always double weigh my bags before i go to the airport.

Usually i have them at 48.5 pounds on both scales..

The airport scales are usually 1/2 to 1 pounds more that my 2 scales.

So that is why i pack to 48.5 pounds.

Damn, I’ve never taken a bag to Africa before that weighed more than 30 lbs and usually less than 25….

That is not silly, that is criminal. Happy to see this scam revealed! I hope that the bastards pay dearly for this.