4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions

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    A critical analysis of sugar tax in South Africa
    (University of the Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022-03-30) Irinoye, Nakedi Jane Vanessa; Blumenthal, Roy
    Globally the major leading cause of death is associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and increasing in both First and Third World countries, including South Africa. The change from traditional to processed food, more energy-dense food, sugar-based drinks, more added salt, fat and sugar, are all referred to as the ‘western diet’. The transition of the food environment has been associatedwith individual influences such as behaviors, knowledge and attitudes. Globally the consumption of sugar-based drinks has increased at an alarming rate and major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are associated with the excessive intake of sugar. One of the global health risks is obesity. In creating food environments that are healthy, international jurisdictions formulate policies and environmental interventions as an effective tool. Taxes have been employed to stabilise a downturn in the market and change the price, which have affected consumers’ purchasing decisions. In this report, sugar tax was critically analysed by evaluating the impact of the tax on the market, employment, imports and exports. Several policy design options of taxing sugar-based drinks as formulated and introduced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) were compared. In order to determine the sustainability of the policy design option implemented by South Africa, the policy design option was compared to that implemented by other jurisdictions namely, the United States of America, Mexico and Denmark. The opponents of sugar tax challengedthe implementation of initiatives and utilization of income generated from sugar tax in South Africa
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    A critical analysis of the rationale for the introduction and implementation of sugar tax
    (2019) Parker, Shuaib Ahmed
    In the 2016 Budget Speech, the then Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, announced a decision to introduce a Health Promotion Levy (‘sugar tax’) on sugar-sweetened beverages (‘SSBs’). Sugar tax came into effect on 1 April 2018 in South Africa. In its Policy Paper released by the National Treasury in July 2016, titled “Taxation of Sugar Sweetened Beverages” (‘Policy Paper’), the National Treasury outlined the proposed sugar tax. It argued that the primary objective of the introduction of sugar tax was to reduce excessive sugar intake and curb the growing problem of obesity. Obesity and other non-communicable diseases (‘NCDs’) have significantly escalated over the past 30 years and has become a growing concern in South Africa. This has resulted in South Africa being ranked the most obese country in sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of SSBs on obesity and other NCDs has received widespread attention on the international stage and by the World Health Organisation (‘WHO’). This is evident from the fact that South Africa is not the first country in recent years to introduce a form of sugar tax which has been gaining traction as popular intervention to combat the growing concern of NCDs. The argument arises as to whether the tax is actually intended to meet its desired health benefits or simply increase revenue for the fiscus. This research will examine whether the implementation of sugar tax will contribute to its intended health objectives envisaged. In order to achieve this, a study will need to be undertaken with countries which have successfully introduced sugar tax including, Mexico, Norway, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Chile and United Kingdom. Lastly, this study will also explore the success of the implementation of sugar tax and the impact it has had on the fiscus of these countries.