 has urged government to strengthen the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) on sugary drinks to a level it says would raise prices by about 20%.){kind=link}
By Charmaine Ndlela
Civil society coalition the Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA) has urged government to strengthen the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) on sugary drinks to a level it says would raise prices by about 20%.
The HPL, introduced in 2018, is not set in law as a flat percentage, but is charged as a sugar-based excise (a set amount per gram of sugar above a threshold). HEALA says the overall effect on prices has diminished as the levy has not been increased.
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HEALA communications manager Zukiswa Zimela said sugar-sweetened beverages remain a major contributor to South Africa’s growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
“Drinking sugar in liquid form is one of the most dangerous ways to consume sugar,” Zimela said.
“These drinks add calories with no nutritional value, and over time they significantly increase the risk of diabetes, hypertension, obesity and other non-communicable diseases.”
She said that sugary beverages are particularly harmful because of how quickly the body absorbs liquid sugar.
“When sugar is consumed in liquid form, the liver absorbs it far more rapidly than it can process,” she said. “The excess sugar is then stored as fat or glycogen in the liver, which can lead to fatty liver disease and increase the risk of diabetes and other NCDs.”
Zimela said international health guidelines are clear on safe sugar consumption, but most sugary drinks far exceed those thresholds.
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“The World Health Organisation recommends that no more than 10% of total daily calories should come from added sugars,” she said. “Yet just one 600ml bottle of cooldrink already contains about 12% of the recommended daily intake for an adult.”
She added that the physical effort required to burn off a single sugary drink highlights the problem.
“To burn off that one bottle, a person would need to run for at least 16 minutes or walk more than 1.5 kilometres.”
“For many people, that simply doesn’t happen, which is why sugar intake adds up so quickly.”
Zimela said the introduction of the Health Promotion Levy proved that taxation works as an effective public health tool.
“In the first year of the tax, we saw a dramatic reduction in the volume of sugary drinks being purchased,” she said. “Sugar consumption dropped by nearly a third, and many South Africans switched to healthier options such as water or diet drinks.”
She said that the levy also influenced industry behaviour.
“The tax pushed beverage manufacturers to reformulate their products. We’ve seen lower sugar content across many brands and a wider range of zero-sugar options as a direct result of the levy.”
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However, she warned that HEALA believed the levy’s impact was being eroded as prices increased over time.
“The levy has remained at around 11% since its introduction,” she said. “Because it has not been adjusted for inflation, its real value has declined, making it less effective at protecting public health.”
HEALA is also urging government to expand the levy to include fruit juices, which Zimela said are often mistakenly viewed as healthy.
“Fruit juice benefits from a health halo effect,” she said. “Many people don’t realise that some fruit juices contain as much, or even more, sugar than soft drinks.”
She said that fruit juice lacks the benefits of whole fruit.
“Unlike whole fruit, which contains fibre and is filling, fruit juice has little to no fibre and a high glycaemic index. Drinking too much fruit juice has been linked to higher risks of obesity and type 2 diabetes.”
Zimela said the World Health Organisation had recently reinforced the case for stronger taxation of harmful products.
“The WHO has warned that weak tax systems allow harmful products like sugary drinks to remain cheap,” she said. “At the same time, our health system is under growing pressure from preventable non-communicable diseases.”
Zimela said HEALA would continue its advocacy efforts ahead of the National Budget speech, which takes place on 25 February.
“We have protested, petitioned, mobilised communities and engaged decision-makers in the past,” she said. “We will continue to expand and deepen our fight for an immediate increase of the Health Promotion Levy to 20%.”
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