This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BL Premium reports that non-profit organisation the FairPlay Movement, which is funded by the local chicken industry, has again called for chicken bone-in pieces and chicken feet to be sold without VAT.
It first made such a call five years ago. This time FairPlay argues that a VAT exemption is essential as food is becoming unaffordable. At the same time the organisation called for a national summit to address the issue of rising prices. FairPlay founder Francois Baird said: “We need a food security emergency summit to bring together everyone involved in the value chain.” Food inflation was 14% in March, according to Stats SA. Baird said rising prices and household food insecurity were a threat to social stability, echoing sentiments by Pick n Pay chair Gareth Ackerman, who pointed out last week that blackouts added to the risk of produce shortages. Speaking at a FairPlay press conference, the CEO of the SA Poultry Association, Izaak Breitenbach, called for a VAT exemption on some chicken items and for food manufacturers and chicken producers to be exempt from stage 10 load-shedding should it occur in winter. Mervyn Abrahams from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group said the poor could no longer afford chicken and were switching to polony and soya instead. Foods exempt from VAT includes brown bread, lentils, maize meal, samp, dried beans and canned pilchards.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page