LETTER: Increasing the sugar tax means decreasing jobs
The health promotion levy has already seen the loss of 9,000 jobs; let’s not add to that number
The Budget Justice Coalition’s (BJC) call to increase the health promotion levy (sugar tax) shows zero regard for the impact this tax hike would have on the 1-million people who rely on the sugar industry for their income (“Tax the rich more, civil society organisations tell MPs (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2020-11-04-tax-the-rich-more-civil-society-organisations-tell-mps/)”, November 4).
Since its introduction in 2018, the sugar tax has cost the sugar industry R1.5bn and caused 9,000 job losses in the cane-growing sector alone. Thousands more jobs have also been lost in the sugar-milling and beverage industries...
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