South Africa calls on government to scrap sugar tax amid sharp increase in imports

The South African Sugarcane Growers Association has urged the government to immediately repeal the sugar tax, saying the surge in cheap imported sugar is crowding out local production and exacerbating the crisis facing South Africa’s sugar sector, Cape Business News reports.

The sugar industry employs more than a million people in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. It includes about 27,000 smallholder farmers and 1,100 large-scale producers. Over the past year, producers have faced increasing pressure due to rising farming costs and unpredictable global prices, as well as weak domestic demand. The organization says the sugar tax has exacerbated these problems.

According to the South African Revenue Service, 153,344 tonnes of sugar were imported between January and September 2025. This is significantly higher than the 20,924 tonnes in the same period in 2020. The previous high was 55,213 tonnes in 2024.

Higgins Mdluli, chairman of the South African Sugarcane Producers Association, said that much of the sugar imported was receiving government support in exporting countries, allowing importers to sell it on the local market at competitive prices. He warned that local farmers were struggling to compete with these imports, while the sugar tax continued to limit domestic demand.

The South African Sugarcane Producers Association is calling on the government to strengthen import protection measures and work more closely with the industry.

Tags: sugar, South Africa, imports, restrictions