The South African sugar industry is calling on the government to scrap the Health Promotion Levy, commonly known as the sugar tax, warning a surge in sugar imports, coupled with the tax burden, is threatening the viability of the local sector and the rural economies it supports.
SA Canegrowers, which represents both small- and large-scale sugarcane farmers, said on Tuesday that heavily subsidised sugar imports are displacing locally produced sugar on retail shelves and among food and beverage manufacturers, undermining an industry that supports more than one-million livelihoods, primarily in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
“Imported sugar is often heavily subsidised in exporting countries, but the only people who benefit are the agents who import the sugar into South Africa and are often able to reap high short-term profits by selling the sugar at local market prices,” SA Canegrowers chair Higgins Mdluli said.
According to the group’s analysis of South African Revenue Service data, 153,344 tonnes of subsidised imported sugar entered South Africa between January 2025 and September 2025 — more than seven times the volume imported over the same period in 2020. The previous high, in 2024, was 55,213 tonnes for the same nine-month window.
Sugar oversupply
SA Canegrowers said in a statement the global sugar market is currently characterised by oversupply and distorted trade conditions, with some large exporting countries able to sell surplus sugar at artificially low prices due to subsidies, favourable exchange rates and sluggish global demand.
“In this environment, protecting South Africa’s domestic market is critical,” said Mdluli.
“Without effective safeguards, local growers are forced to compete against dumped imports while simultaneously facing policies that suppress local demand. Allowing imported sugar to displace locally produced sugar under these conditions undermines food security, erodes rural economies and places a strategic agricultural sector at long-term risk,” he said.
The sugar tax, introduced in 2018 as part of the government’s public health campaign to reduce sugar consumption, has long been a point of contention between the industry and policymakers. In the first year alone it shed more than 16,000 jobs, the group says.
While intended to encourage healthier consumer choices, SA Canegrowers argues the levy has failed to deliver measurable health benefits and has instead harmed rural jobs and investment.
“The sugar tax is an unproven policy experiment with very real consequences for rural jobs and investment,” Mdluli said.
“Any future decisions must be informed by a balanced assessment of health data and a calorie-intake survey of South Africans, balanced with the impact on the economy and on the sustainability of local food production.”
The group called on finance minister Enoch Godongwana to scrap the tax in the upcoming budget and for the government to ensure that import protection measures are effectively implemented to prevent further erosion of local market share.
SA Canegrowers said South Africa currently produces more than enough sugar to meet domestic demand, and that local supply should be prioritised to protect jobs and bolster food security.
“Saving the sugar industry is not just about growers; it is about communities, jobs and South Africa’s ability to produce its own food. By standing together now, we can protect a strategic sector and secure a more sustainable future for generations to come,” SA Canegrowers said.
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