Sugar industry could, and should, shift to other outlets for its produce

South Africa’s sugar industry – which generates about R14 billion annually and employs at least 350 000 people – says it is in a state of near collapse due to taxes imposed on it by government.

Now, before we get too upset about this undoubtedly serious state of affairs for the sector, it must be pointed out that the taxes were levied not as some arbitrary fund-raising scheme by our lawmakers, but because they wanted to discourage the worryingly high consumption of sugar from a health perspective.

Refined sugar content in beverages is a major contributor to the growing national epidemic of obesity, which is associated with heart disease and even cancer. These conditions cost our health system billions of rand a year to treat.

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The industry says that about 19 000 jobs have already been lost, mainly in poorer rural areas where the sugar cane plantations and processing factories are located. While this is regrettable, the reality is that the sugar industry could, and should, shift to other outlets for its produce.

Ethanol is one of them – and when used in fuels, can save the country a huge amount of foreign exchange and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. There’s a silver lining in this cloud.