SA Canegrowers welcomes no increase in sugar tax
Industry body SA Canegrowers says it welcomes the decision by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana not to enact any further increases in the Health Promotion Levy – or sugar tax – in his latest Budget, which he presented to Parliament on May 21.
Introduced in 2018, the association says the sugar tax cost 16 000 jobs and R2-billion in revenue in the first year of implementation alone, according to independent research by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
“Any increase would risk the livelihoods of growers and increase unemployment in many parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, where there are few other job opportunities.
“The sugar tax has been nothing but destructive for South Africa,” says SA Canegrowers.
The association adds that there has been no evidence that the tax has reduced obesity or improved the health of South Africans in any way, which was the aim of the tax.
“Ultimately, we believe Treasury should scrap the tax, to help ensure that government drives job creation and economic growth, as per its commitments outlined in the Sugarcane Value Chain Master Plan 2030,” the association expresses.
This social compact between industry and government to revitalise the industry also has the potential to create new markets for sugarcane growers and kickstart new industrialisation projects in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, it adds, describing agricultural jobs as “critically important” to the stability of South Africa and to reducing rural poverty and hunger.
“SA Canegrowers will continue to strive for an end to this job-killing tax, calling on the government to prioritise desperately needed economic growth and jobs instead.”
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