A report commissioned by the National Economic Development and Labour Council shows that, in the first year of the sugar tax’s implementation, there were 16 621 job losses across the industry, of which 9 000 job losses were in the cane growing sector alone. The South African (SA) Canegrowers Association says calls by some public health scholars and the Healthy Living Alliance (Hela) for the national government to double the Health Promotion Levy (HPL), commonly referred to as the sugar tax, “shows zero regard for the impact this tax hike would have on the one-million people who rely on the sugar industry for their income, or indeed for any discernible impact the HPL has on reducing obesity levels in South Africa”.
