Nothing sweet about sugar tax

Iguess I’m a sceptic when it comes to proposals emanating from the ANC government. But I seriously doubt there is a genuine concern for the reduction in obesity and diabetes in the South African public.

The thought of laying their greedy hands on an additional R11 billion is, I’m sure, the clincher for the sugar tax.

I wonder what home they would propose for this largess and how many greedy ANC pockets would benefit?

National Treasury spokesperson Phumza Macanda accuses the bottling industry of resorting to scare tactics by indicating that production of sugar-sweetened beverages could drop by 25% and that some producers might stop production completely.

What a naive statement from Macanda.

If the proposed tax is designed to reduce the causes of obesity and diabetes, as stated, then how happy they should be as, with the drop in production of sugar-sweetened beverages, there should immediately be a drop of around 25% in our obesity and diabetes figures.

Isn’t that the stated intention?

Or is it just a smoke and mirrors way of accessing an additional R11 billion? Excuse my scepticism.

Atlasville

Mike Collins, Send us your letter

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