Health minister welcomes sugar tax
Health Minister Aaron Motsaledi has commended the sugar-sweetened beverages tax.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said during his budget speech yesterday that the tax will be levied from April 1 next year.
Motsoaledi says the move is important in curbing diseases like obesity, as fizzy drinks constitute one third of all sugar consumed by people.
"When you take a Coke or a fizzy drink, you don't regard yourself as taking 12 teaspoons of sugar but that's exactly what you are doing. But there's actually 12 teaspoons of sugar in 330ml of a sugar-sweetened beverage," he said.
Gordhan says special attention has been given to the fairness of the tax system to raise additional revenue and reduce the budget deficit.
Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini welcomed the increase in social assistance expenditure from R129-billion to R165-billion in 2018.
"I think South Africans must try and appreciate what government is doing, trying to ensure that social solidarity is spread along in a very particular and careful way," she said.
(File photo: Gallo Images)