Budget Speech: sugar tax decision offers glimmer of hope to sugar industry
27 February 2020
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s decision not to hike the sugar tax in his budget speech offers a glimmer of hope to those who depend on the sugar industry for their economic survival.
The sugar tax has already cost the industry R1.5 billion, with 9000 jobs being lost in the cane growing sector alone. A tax hike would have resulted in thousands more jobs being lost in mostly poor rural communities.
While we are pleased that the national government did not give into to reckless calls by lobby groups such as HEALA to increase the sugar tax further, the tax still poses a serious risk to jobs in the sugar industry.
The only way we will be able to ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry, and to protect the one million livelihoods it supports, is for the sugar tax to be eradicated completely.