The jobs emergency | Cane growers warn of dangers of sugar tax hike

JOHANNESBURG - Increasing the so-called sugar tax will hurt the job market.

This is the view of the SA Canegrowers Association.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has announced plans to increase the Health Promotion Levy.

READ: SA's economic trouble | Sugar prices leave a bitter taste

The association is warning of the devastating implications for rural communities.

"The sugar tax -- when it was implemented in 2018 -- had massive impact on the industry across the board, and especially in the crane-growing area we saw a large number of jobs shed," said Thomas Funke.

"It was unaffordable for the farmers to continue with the numbers of staff they had employed on their farms because income was just cut so dramatically."