The local sugar industry is facing mounting pressure from cheap imports, with trade unions warning that more than 70,000 direct jobs could be at risk without urgent action
Trade union federation COSATU has called for urgent action to protect jobs in South Africa’s sugar industry, warning that a surge in cheap imports is putting local producers and more than 70,000 direct jobs at risk.
The call comes after government gazetted new measures to increase tariffs on imported sugar in a bid to protect local producers. The changes raise the reference price for imported sugar from $680 to $785 per tonne and increase the import duty from R4.83 to R6.97 per kilogram.
Matthew Parks, COSATU Parliamentary Coordinator, welcomed the move but said tariffs alone would not be enough to address the crisis facing 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.
