Sugar industry pleads for relief
Warning of total collapse of sector as government urged to extend moratorium on sugar tax
The sugar industry wants the finance minister to declare a six-year halt on increases in the health promotion levy (sugar tax) to avoid a potential loss of almost 300,000 jobs and a total collapse of the industry.In 2018, South Africa became the first country in Africa to introduce a tax on sweetened beverages with a sugar content of over 4g per 100ml, as a response to the growing public health crisis caused by obesity and diabetes.Finance minister Enoch Godongwana gave the industry some reprieve in his budget in February 2023, announcing that the tax of 2.1 cents a gram of the sugar content exceeding 4g per 100ml would not increase for the next two fiscal years.With this grace period set to expire in February next year, the South African Sugar Association (Sasa) has urged the National Treasury to extend it until 2030 if the sugar master plan, aimed at saving the sector, is to have any chance of success. Sasa executive director Trix Trikam said the global sugar market was distorte...
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