ANA reports that the South African Canegrowers Association said on Monday it would be briefing Parliament's trade and industry portfolio committee on the crisis facing the sugar industry due to drought, falling prices and the impact of cheap imports.
The association had sent a letter to the committee's chairperson on 14 February outlining the dire situation faced by canegrowers, including small-scale growers, those that have benefited from land reform and farmworkers. The letter detailed the impact of a severe drought in KwaZulu-Natal, plunging sugar prices, weak protection against cheap imports and a sugar tax implemented last April. The canegrowers’ body said all of these factors taken together were a "clear and present danger to the sustainability of the sugar industry which provides employment to 350,000 people". It estimated that a 5.2% increase on the sugar tax announced by the finance minister could in itself cause up to 10,000 job losses in the industry.
- Read the original of a short report in the above regard at Engineering News
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