Listen to this article.
By Palesa Matlala
- South Africa has increased tariffs on imported sugar as cheap foreign supplies pile pressure on local producers and threaten more than 70,000 direct jobs.
- Cosatu wants cheaper electricity, better rail services, stronger support for local sugar and tougher action against illegal and underpriced imports.
More than 70,000 South African jobs are under threat as cheap imported sugar puts local farmers and producers under growing pressure.
Trade union federation Cosatu has warned that South Africa cannot afford to lose its sugar industry when unemployment is already dangerously high.
The warning comes as government steps in with higher tariffs on imported sugar to give struggling local producers more protection.
Government has increased the reference price used to calculate protection against imported sugar from $680 to $785 a tonne.
The import duty has also increased from R4.83 to R6.97 a kilogram.
The measures are aimed at making imported sugar more expensive and helping South African producers compete.
Cosatu Parliamentary Coordinator Matthew Parks welcomed the move.
But he warned that higher tariffs alone will not save the industry.
“We simply cannot afford to lose this industry in an economy that has barely grown above 1% over the past decade and is battling a dangerously high unemployment rate of 43.8%,” Parks said.
The stakes go far beyond the thousands of people working directly in the industry.
“The sugar industry employs over 70,000 workers directly and more indirectly. It provides livelihoods for more than 11,000 emerging and small-scale farmers and is an economic anchor for KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga,” Parks said.
This means trouble in the sugar industry could hit workers, farmers and communities that depend on the industry for income.
Cosatu wants government to use the tariff increase as the first step in a much bigger rescue plan.
It says local producers need help with high electricity costs.
The federation also wants more reliable rail and logistics services to help businesses move their goods efficiently and reduce costs.
It is calling for stronger support for locally produced sugar.
Another major concern is illicit and under-invoiced imports.
Under-invoicing happens when imported goods are declared at a lower value than their real value, reducing the duties that should be paid.
Cosatu wants authorities to crack down on these practices.
The federation is also pushing for the Sugar Master Plan to be fully implemented.
The plan is meant to bring government, businesses and workers together to support and strengthen South Africa’s sugar industry.
Parks said protecting the industry is not only about saving jobs on farms and at sugar mills.
“We need to protect jobs not only in primary agriculture and milling, but across the broader value chain including food and beverages,” he said.
He said cooperation between government, businesses and workers would be crucial.
“Solidarity between government, business and labour is key.”
Cosatu has called on Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau and his department to make sure the Sugar Master Plan is fully carried out.
It wants the new tariffs to become the beginning of a broader rescue and investment package instead of the government’s final intervention.
“Cosatu urges Minister Parks Tau and DTIC to ensure the Sugar Master Plan is fully implemented and that this tariff adjustment is the start of a comprehensive rescue and investment package,” Parks said.
For Cosatu, the message is clear: protecting South African sugar is also about protecting thousands of workers, small farmers and communities whose livelihoods depend on the industry.
Pictured above: Sugar cane workers.
Image source: Supplied
