Hold off on increasing sugar tax to help industry, says SASA
South African Sugar Association CEO Sifiso Mahlaba urged the government to support agriculture and reaffirm commitment to the Sugarcane Value Chain Master Plan. He called for extending the sugar tax moratorium to 2030, warning that increases could harm the industry and rural livelihoods. Mahlaba emphasized the need for diversification to ensure long-term sustainability.
Sifiso Mahlaba, CEO of the South African Sugar Association, told Farmer’s Weekly that he hoped Godongwana would put in place more measures aimed at ensuring the stability, growth, and sustainability of the agriculture sector.
“The agriculture sector is the nexus of the country’s economy. We stand ready to assist President [Cyril Ramaphosa] and the Government of National Unity [GNU] in creating jobs and growing the economy of our beloved South Africa,” he said.
In terms of the sugar sector, Mahlaba said he hoped the minister would reaffirm his commitment to the Sugarcane Value Chain Master Plan to 2030, which was announced during the State of the Nation Address by Ramaphosa in 2019.
Mahlaba added that one way in which Ramaphosa, Godongwana and the GNU could support the sugar industry and the master plan was to extend the current two-year moratorium on an increase in the Health Promotion Levy to 2030 to allow for sufficient time for the industry to diversify and restructure.
“Our future, and those of the one million rural livelihoods [supported by the industry] depends on this extension. Any increase to the sugar tax or reduction of the current threshold would decimate the industry and nullify the gains of the master plan so far. We need the support of the President, the GNU, and Parliament to ensure that product diversification becomes a reality, thus securing the sustainability of the industry,” he said.
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Source : Farmers Weekly
