Public health advocates are urging Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to increase South Africa’s sugar tax and extend it to fruit juices, arguing that such a move could generate at least R8.6 billion annually while also tackling rising obesity and diabetes rates. More than a dozen healthcare organisations and over 100 health professionals have signed a petition supporting this measure, including key research bodies such as the SA Medical Research Council/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science (Priceless SA) and the Progressive Health Forum. However, despite growing pressure from health experts, the minister’s draft budget scrapped the planned April 1 increase to the health promotion levy, citing the need to give the sugar industry more time to adjust to market challenges.
The sugar tax, formally known as the health promotion levy, was introduced in 2018 to curb excessive sugar consumption by applying a charge of 2.1 cents per gram of sugar above a 4g threshold per 100ml. Since its implementation, the sugar industry has consistently opposed the levy, claiming it has led to significant job losses. Industry group SA Canegrowers estimates that over 9,700 jobs have been lost on sugar farms due to declining sugary drink consumption. However, public health advocates dispute these claims, citing research from Priceless SA, which found no direct link between the tax and employment losses. The petition argues that raising the levy to 20% of the retail price, as recommended by the World Health Organisation, would have a far greater impact on reducing obesity and related diseases while also being a more equitable alternative to a VAT increase, which disproportionately affects low-income households.
The SA Sugar Association has dismissed the calls for a tax hike as unreasonable, arguing that obesity rates continue to rise despite the levy. The association warns that further taxation will exacerbate financial strain on the sugar sector, which has already suffered a multibillion-rand revenue loss, mill closures, and job cuts. Instead, industry leaders are calling for an extension of the current sugar tax moratorium until 2030, allowing time for diversification into alternative products such as bioethanol for fuel, sustainable aviation fuel, and cogeneration. As the debate continues, the finance minister faces mounting pressure to balance public health concerns with the economic stability of the sugar industry while preparing to present a revised budget to Parliament on March 12.