BusinessLive reports that union federation Cosatu has called for a delay in the implementation of the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, saying a comprehensive transition and jobs plan has to be developed first.  

The plan should include tariffs on sugar and sugar-related imports, support for sugar exports and for emerging and vulnerable sugar farms and mills, as well as the fast-tracking of bio-fuel and co-generation of energy, Cosatu said in a presentation in Parliament on Wednesday.  While the federation agreed that diabetes and obesity were contributing to a national health crisis, it was concerned about the loss of jobs that would result from the tax, intended to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks.  Cosatu’s parliamentary liaison officer Matthew Parks noted that Treasury estimated that the tax would result in 5,000 job losses, while the SA Cane Growers Association estimated that a loss of 5,817 jobs.  This would follow approximately 15,000 job losses in the sugar sector due to lower global prices in the past few years.  Parks added that Cosatu did not have confidence in the government’s ability to protect and save jobs and that government’s lack of a plan to save 5,000 jobs was clear evidence of this.

• Read this report by Linda Ensor in full at BusinessLive

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