ANA reports that the South African Sugar Association (SASA) said on Thursday it was disappointed by the announcement that there would be an increase in the Health Promotion Levy (HPL), commonly known as the "sugar tax".  

During his budget speech on Wednesday, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said government has decided to hike the sugar tax by 5.2%.  Hans Hackmann, SASA chairperson, said the sugar tax had already caused serious damage in the sugar industry, representing a decline in local demand for sugar of approximately 200,000 t/y, thereby reducing industry revenue by about R1-billion a year.  Sugar production contributes about R14-billion to SA’s gross domestic product and the industry employs 85,000 people directly, and a further 350,000 indirectly through food processing and other sectors.  Hackmann said it was regrettable that the implementation of mitigation measures, as recommended by a Nedlac Task Team, had been delayed.  He indicated that they would seek engagement with government and Parliament to discuss the process of expediting the implementation of mitigation measures, including the raising of the import duty on dumped sugar to a more appropriate level.

• Read the original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page