SA Canegrowers calls for urgent government action to save local sugar industry
Image: Simphiwe Mbokazi/Independent Newspapers
SA Canegrowers has urged Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, to expedite the finalisation of regulations that could fortify the survival of South Africa's beleaguered sugar industry.
The appeal comes amidst increasing turmoil, marked by a 30% tariff on South African sugar exports to the United States and an influx of heavily subsidised foreign sugar into local markets.
The organisation's chairman, Higgins Mdluli, highlights the dire state of the industry, noting that delays in industry consultations threaten the livelihoods of growers crucial for sustaining rural economies, particularly in Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
'The sugar industry needs the limited exemption from competition regulations in order to have industry-wide discussions without fear of falling foul of the Competition Act,' Mdluli stated, underscoring the urgency with which the sector requires government support.
In May, Minister Didiza published draft regulations allowing collective negotiations on the procurement of over 90% local sugar among growers, millers, retailers, and food manufacturers. Initially welcomed by SA Canegrowers, the lack of progress since the public comment period has raised alarms within the industry.
The consultation, requested by the Minister herself, has yet to be scheduled months after feedback was gathered, prompting renewed concern among stakeholders.
'We have written to Minister Didiza and urged her to act with urgency," Mdluli said.
"The livelihoods of sugarcane growers depend on it.'
The challenge posed by cheap foreign sugar imports and the newly imposed US tariffs threatens not only the viability of local sugar but also the jobs and economic stability of entire communities reliant on the sector.
According to SA Canegrowers, the current situation reflects a critical need for domestic action to stave off the competitive threat from subsidised imports.
'The South African sugar industry is a national asset. We support local jobs and farming, yet our market is being flooded by cheap, subsidised imports,' Mdluli elaborated.
He emphasised that not only are local jobs at stake, but the influx of cheaper sugar does not benefit consumers, but instead allows importers to reap higher profit margins at the expense of the local economy.
Compounding these domestic struggles is the impact of the new US tariff, which has rendered South African sugar less competitive in a vital export market.
Prior to this development, the US operated under a quota system for sugar, which did not adversely affect South African growers. As the US grapples with its own supply limitations, SA Canegrowers is calling on the South African government to prioritise negotiations for a mutually beneficial trade deal, advocating for a tariff exemption for sugar or a reversion to the previous quota mechanisms.
The call for prompt governmental action highlights the precarious balance that needs to be struck to safeguard the viability of local agriculture.
Failure to act could jeopardise the livelihoods of countless growers and ultimately threaten the very foundation of the domestic sugar industry.
IOL
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
43 minutes ago
- IOL News
SA Falls Prey to US Playbook on Human Rights, Regime Change
A worker checks the first copy of "The Star", the biggest and most respected South African daily, hot from the printing press on May 02, 1994 in Johannesburg, South Africa, as it headlines Nelson Mandela as next president of the country following the ANC victory in the first all-race elections. Thirty years of governance have taken their toll on the ANC. This vulnerability created the ideal conditions for a regime change strategy to advance, says the writer. Image: AFP Dr. Reneva Fourie The pattern is well-worn. Regardless of the issue or the president in power, if a country refuses to toe the Washington line, accusations of human rights abuses become the weapon of choice. Cuba and Venezuela were targeted primarily because of their economic policies, which diverged from the model preferred by Washington. Iran and China were labelled for achieving successes that rivalled or surpassed Western capabilities. Now the target is South Africa. The offence is that the country dared to take Israel to the International Court of Justice and lay bare evidence of genocidal acts. When pressure failed to deter the government from this principled course, the United States released a plethora of destabilising interventions, the most recent being a report alleging that the human rights situation in South Africa had worsened significantly. In the past, millions accepted the official story told about countries placed on Washington's list of offenders. They defended sanctions that crippled economies and harmed civilians. Those who challenged the propaganda were branded as conspiracy theorists or apologists for despots. South Africans are now watching this process unfold in real time. Narratives are created and disseminated through a system of media, think tanks, and lobbying networks, until repetition renders them true. This is not a new phenomenon. Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman's Manufacturing Consent detailed how media and political elites shape public perception to align with imperial interests. The same playbook is being used against South Africa. The US government, alongside its allies in the corporate media and right-wing NGOs, is constructing a narrative of a 'failing state' to justify intervention. Several sources, including Dale McKinley's The ANC and the Liberation Struggle: A Critical Political Biography, indicate that the seeds of regime-change had been planted well before the democratic transition. Knowing that the fall of apartheid was imminent, and that the vast socio-economic disparities due to apartheid policies would compel some form of social protection, deliberate efforts were made to secure capital control of the economy and progressively erode the highly popular power of South Africa's liberation movement. Thirty years of governance have taken their toll on the ANC. Internal disputes, corruption scandals, and declining service delivery have eroded public trust. This vulnerability created the ideal conditions for a regime change strategy to advance. In the run-up to the 2024 general election, large sums were poured into a coordinated effort to remove the ANC from power. One significant step was a meeting held in Gdańsk, Poland, in 2023. Out of this gathering came plans for a political coalition to challenge the ANC, then known as the Moonshot Pact. The return of the Trump administration to power in the United States gave impetus to the regime-change agenda. Backed strongly by the Zionist lobby, the administration re-established links with figures and groups rooted in the apartheid era. It embraced false claims promoted by AfriForum and Solidarity about state-sponsored genocide, land seizures, and restrictions on cultural rights. These are being weaponised to discredit progressive forces inside the South African government. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading The United States' 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in South Africa presents itself as objective but is a work of distortion. It accuses the government of complicity in extra-judicial killings, repression of free expression, and antisemitism. It claims the state had failed to take credible action against officials responsible for human rights abuses and included allegations of inflammatory racial rhetoric and violence against racial minorities. The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation rejected the report outright. It described it as inaccurate and deeply flawed, and said it ignored the reality of South Africa's constitutional democracy. Despite this, Solidarity announced plans to travel to the United States in September. Its stated purpose is to propose ways for Washington and other foreign actors to improve human rights in South Africa. There is no moral or political justification for such an appeal. The United States is a country that fails to address its own deep racial and economic inequalities and that has fuelled human rights abuses globally through war, sanctions, and covert operations. South Africa already has the National Dialogue, which provides a platform for honest discussion and collective problem-solving. Solidarity's actions are treasonous. They seek to restore the racial hierarchy of the past and place South Africa under a form of minority rule that would guarantee elite privilege. What Solidarity and its allies may not realise is that they are not the architects of this agenda but the instruments of it. The real prize for Washington and its corporate backers is a government that will embrace neoliberal policies without question. That role fits the Democratic Alliance perfectly. The United States is becoming more open in its regime change tactics, confident that the same methods used in Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe can work in Southern Africa. It is aggressively forging ahead to undermine South Africa's ability to determine its policies, protect its resources, and shape its future free from foreign control. The answer is not to retreat into denial or partisanship. It is to recognise that the struggle for sovereignty is a shared one. External actors can exploit the divisions that exist within South African society unless they are addressed honestly and directly. That is why the National Dialogue process is critical. It provides a forum where competing visions can be debated without the interference of those whose only interest is to control outcomes for their gain. South Africa has faced powerful adversaries before. The defeat of apartheid was not a gift. It was the result of unity, sacrifice, and a refusal to accept the idea that the powerful always win. The same spirit is needed now. We need to be united on the principle that the people of South Africa, and no one else, must decide the country's future. If South Africans adhere to that principle, the current campaign of manipulation and pressure will fail, just as previous attempts to crush the people's will have failed. * Dr Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development, and security. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
IOL News
9 hours ago
- IOL News
Effective empowerment of women will boost the economy
Refilwe Lesufi Image: Supplied As Women's Month continues to be commemorated in South Africa with colourful banners and applause, it is worth noting that for many women and girls, the struggle for equal opportunity is a daily lived experience. Efforts to empower women and girls in South Africa have not resulted in an impactful shift in addressing historical disparities. The labour market continues to favour men and shows minimal signs of making real progress towards improving prospects for women. Stats SA's latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2025 reveals ongoing disparities in the labour market. A media statement by Stats SA notes that the unemployment rate for women in this period was 35,9% compared with 31,0% for men, a gap of 4,9 percentage points. 'These differences reflect persistent gender imbalances in unemployment, labour force participation and the sectors in which men and women are employed.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Education is also not closing the gap in unemployment for South African women, according to the Stats SA statement, and gender disparities in the labour market remain entrenched across all levels of educational attainment. 'In the second quarter of 2025, the official unemployment rate for graduates stood at 12,2%, marking a 0,5 percentage point increase from the previous quarter. … a closer look reveals a persistent gender gap among the most educated. Female graduates faced an unemployment rate of 15%, compared to 8,9% for their male counterparts, a difference of 6,1 percentage points.' A gender-focused approach is needed to deliver employment opportunities that are inclusive and responsive to challenges faced by women. In South Africa, a large share of the country's scarce skills lies within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM ) fields. According to the Reginsights article, ''The Most In-Demand Skills in South Africa 2025,' skills such as ICT specialists, engineering professionals, healthcare workers, renewable energy experts, technicians, education specialists, agricultural scientists, finance specialists, and logistics professionals are all in short supply. As we celebrate National Science Week, let us remember that the future of STEM in South Africa lies in the hands of our youth. Image: Supplied STEM as a strategic driver offers a powerful, gender-focused pathway to creating inclusive employment opportunities, especially for women in rural areas, informal settlements and townships, while directly addressing the unique barriers they face. PROTEC is an independent NPO that provides education support in STEM gateway subjects – Mathematics, Technology and Science – as well as English and World of Work life skills training. In partnership with our funders, we have consistently committed to advancing the gender equality and redress agenda. More than 63% of our total beneficiaries are female, and we are seeing a growing number of young women pursuing careers in engineering, science, and other STEM fields that were once male-dominated. In 2024, ten of PROTEC's top twelve matric beneficiaries were female. Why is a focus on women so important? An article by the Stellenbosch University Business School in December 2024, titled 'Equal pay for equal work: How does South Africa measure up?' reveals that, 'In South Africa, around 38% of households are headed by women. Female-headed households are approximately 40% poorer than those headed by men. Also, 48% of female-headed households support extended family members compared to only 23% of male-headed households.' Women bear a disproportionate burden in caring for children, earn less than men, are more vulnerable to domestic violence, and face greater challenges in accessing resources to improve their lives — illustrating how power dynamics continue to favour men.
The Star
10 hours ago
- The Star
Effective empowerment of women will boost the economy
Refilwe Lesufi | Published 14 minutes ago As Women's Month continues to be commemorated in South Africa with colourful banners and applause, it is worth noting that for many women and girls, the struggle for equal opportunity is a daily lived experience. Efforts to empower women and girls in South Africa have not resulted in an impactful shift in addressing historical disparities. The labour market continues to favour men and shows minimal signs of making real progress towards improving prospects for women. Stats SA's latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2025 reveals ongoing disparities in the labour market. A media statement by Stats SA notes that the unemployment rate for women in this period was 35,9% compared with 31,0% for men, a gap of 4,9 percentage points. 'These differences reflect persistent gender imbalances in unemployment, labour force participation and the sectors in which men and women are employed.' Education is also not closing the gap in unemployment for South African women, according to the Stats SA statement, and gender disparities in the labour market remain entrenched across all levels of educational attainment. 'In the second quarter of 2025, the official unemployment rate for graduates stood at 12,2%, marking a 0,5 percentage point increase from the previous quarter. … a closer look reveals a persistent gender gap among the most educated. Female graduates faced an unemployment rate of 15%, compared to 8,9% for their male counterparts, a difference of 6,1 percentage points.' A gender-focused approach is needed to deliver employment opportunities that are inclusive and responsive to challenges faced by women. In South Africa, a large share of the country's scarce skills lies within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM ) fields. According to the Reginsights article, ''The Most In-Demand Skills in South Africa 2025,' skills such as ICT specialists, engineering professionals, healthcare workers, renewable energy experts, technicians, education specialists, agricultural scientists, finance specialists, and logistics professionals are all in short supply. STEM as a strategic driver offers a powerful, gender-focused pathway to creating inclusive employment opportunities, especially for women in rural areas, informal settlements and townships, while directly addressing the unique barriers they face. PROTEC is an independent NPO that provides education support in STEM gateway subjects – Mathematics, Technology and Science – as well as English and World of Work life skills training. In partnership with our funders, we have consistently committed to advancing the gender equality and redress agenda. More than 63% of our total beneficiaries are female, and we are seeing a growing number of young women pursuing careers in engineering, science, and other STEM fields that were once male-dominated. In 2024, ten of PROTEC's top twelve matric beneficiaries were female. Why is a focus on women so important? An article by the Stellenbosch University Business School in December 2024, titled ' Equal pay for equal work: How does South Africa measure up? ' reveals that, 'In South Africa, around 38% of households are headed by women. Female-headed households are approximately 40% poorer than those headed by men. Also, 48% of female-headed households support extended family members compared to only 23% of male-headed households.' Women bear a disproportionate burden in caring for children, earn less than men, are more vulnerable to domestic violence, and face greater challenges in accessing resources to improve their lives — illustrating how power dynamics continue to favour men. With concerted effort by South African organisations across the board, we can break barriers, redress imbalances, and ensure that South Africa's future workforce is inclusive and ready for the challenges of tomorrow. Industry leaders can actively invest in: Exposure – by introducing girls to STEM career paths from an early age. Support – by funding education, training, and resources. Mentorship – by connecting learners with role models. Employment pathways – through internships, bursaries and jobs. As UN Women reminds us: 'Ensuring women's and girls' rights in all areas of their lives is the only way to secure prosperous and just economies and build a healthy planet for future generations.' By deliberately empowering girls and women, we have the power to reshape history, drive economic growth, reduce poverty and improve health and livelihoods.
