Sugar tax threatens over 9,000 jobs in South Africa

South Africa’s sugar industry risks losing as much as 16% of its cane-growing area and more than a 10th of farm-level jobs if the government raises a levy on sugar-sweetened drinks and expands the tax to other products, according to a new report. As much as 53,800 hectares (133,000 acres) of cane-growing land — an area about the size of Guam — and 9,151 jobs may be shed through 2031 due to higher and more broad-ranging taxes that sap local demand for refined sugar, tariff-free imports from neighbouring Eswatini, and increased production costs, according to a paper by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy published Monday. The report was commissioned by the South African Sugar Association. The industry is facing a crisis partly due to a flood of cheap imports, with annual production dropping by almost a quarter over the past two decades and the number of sugarcane farmers falling by 60%. Sector representatives say the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages that came into effect in ...