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IOL News
5 hours ago
- Business
- IOL News
SA canegrowers fear 30% tariff on sugar exports to the US will jeopardise industry
SA Canegrowers, which represents 24,000 small scale farmers and 1,200 large-scale growers, in a statement on Wednesday said they are deeply concerned about the 30% tariff on South African sugar exports to the United States, set to take effect on 1 August. Image: Karen Sandison/Independent Newspapers SA Canegrowers, which represents 24 000 small scale farmers and 1 200 large-scale growers,has expressed deep concerns about a new 30% tariff on South African sugar exports to the United States, set to take effect on 1 August. Industry leaders fear that this punitive tariff will render South African sugar uncompetitive in one of its most crucial markets and threaten the livelihoods of millions reliant on the sugar supply chain. SA Canegrowers chairman Higgins Mdluli highlighted the urgency of the situation, insisting that the South African sugar industry poses no threat to the US market. 'It is important to stress that the South African sugar industry poses no threat to the US market, which relies on sugar from outside the US to meet local demand,' Mdluli said. 'The US has up until recently had a quota system in place to ensure that the US retains full control over both the volume and price of imported sugar.' 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. 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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. Next Stay Close ✕ The US has long relied on imports to satisfy its domestic demand, with a previous quota system ensuring tight control over volume and pricing of imported sugar. With extensive subsidies provided to competitors such as Brazil, India, and Mexico, South African growers are increasingly squeezed out of this critical market. Mdluli said the 30% tariff was particularly alarming for local farmers as it will make South African sugar less competitive in the US market when compared to heavily subsidised competitors like Brazil, India, and Mexico. 'Losing competitiveness in the US market comes at the same time that South African sugarcane growers are under pressure from cheap, subsidised imports flooding into our ports – from the same global competitors' he said. 'The South African government is, however, in a position to help protect the local sugar market from unfair trade practices, an essential move as the industry supports a million livelihoods across the value chain.' Recent data reveals a stark increase in foreign sugar imports, with arrivals from countries outside the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) growing four-fold from 25 000 tons in 2023/24 to over 100 000 tons a year later. Mdluli said this trend threatened to continue, with projections indicating even higher imports for the 2025/26 season. He said this rapidly expanding market share of imported sugar raised alarms about the viability of South African sugarcane growers. He added that subsidised sugar from foreign markets also did not necessarily lead to cheaper sugar for local consumers as importers use the price differential to increase their profits by selling at local prices. 'This keeps international prices artificially low and results in foreign sugar flooding the South African market at below the cost of local production. 'South African sugarcane growers cannot compete with these unfairly subsidised imports arriving every day at our ports, particularly as the industry contends with a range of other pressures including erratic weather patterns, mill closures, the Health Promotion Levy (sugar tax), and the 30% tariffs that will reduce revenue from the US. For every ton of imported sugar that enters the local market, the industry loses R6 000.' 'The result is, however, that locally grown sugar is displaced, and thousands of jobs are put at risk. Consumers who unwittingly buy foreign sugar fund growers in other countries, whilst local growers struggle.' Dr Siyabonga Madlala, chariman of the South African Farmers Development Association, said they were greatly concerned about the deteriorating trade relations between South Africa and the US as a key trade partner. 'South Africa exports sugar to the US market that attracts premium prices. Increased reciprocal tariffs will depreciate the benefits of trade with the US, reduce sugarcane prices for black farmers, and threaten their sustainability,' Madlala said. BUSINESS REPORT
IOL News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Portfolio committee to investigate bribery and audit discrepancies in Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality
The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs is set to demand answers from the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality after allegations of bribery of councillors to skip meetings emerged. Image: Karen Sandison / Independent Media A parliamentary oversight committee will visit the troubled Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality to demand answers on a number of concerns, including alleged R5,000 bribery of councillors not to attend meetings and eight consecutive disclaimer audit opinions. The National Assembly's Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, chaired by Dr Zweli Mkhize, is expected to descend on the province for two days next week, and the struggling municipality based in Harrismith in the Free State has indicated that it will answer questions raised by MPs. On June 30, Mkhize wrote to Maluti-a-Phofung's controversial Mayor, Malekula Melato, and Free State Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Saki Mokoena, informing them about its plans to conduct an oversight visit in the municipality to gather information and ensure accountability. Among the matters identified by the portfolio committee requiring forensic investigations are the 'bribing of councillors to the value of R5,000 each to prevent council sittings from forming a quorum' and R5 million spent on the procurement of uniforms while the council was on recess. 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 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. Next Stay Close ✕ In addition, the committee has asked the municipality to explain how it paid for 45 transformers when only less than a quarter were delivered, as well as asphalt and road marking paint, paid for but not delivered. According to Mkhize's letter, Maluti-a-Phofung allegedly paid double the R6m bill to a security company in February and March this year, and Melato has been asked to apprise the portfolio committee on the allegation. The committee is also seeking answers on the eight consecutive disclaimer audit opinions by the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) and the AGSA's inability to determine the municipality's reported achievements. 'For example, there was one indicator that related to the much-needed upgrading of six water pump stations. 'The municipality reported that the six water pump stations had been upgraded but could not provide evidence of the achievement,' Mkhize explained. The committee said, based on site visits, the AGSA team confirmed that the municipality did not adequately maintain four of these pump stations, which had totally collapsed and had not been operational for several years. During the oversight visit, Maluti-a-Phofung is expected to provide reasons for the irregularities or transgressions and state the consequence management it exercised against the transgressors in line with relevant legislation and supply specific names and actions taken. The portfolio committee also wants details of the corrective steps taken to rectify the transgressions identified by the AGSA in the 2023/24 financial year. Additionally, the municipality must provide future action it intends to take to prevent recurrence, with target dates and the accounting platforms where the corrections will be monitored, as well as the anticipated actions to be considered should the preventative actions or targets be missed. The municipality's spokesperson, Thabo Khessah, said they were ready to provide the portfolio committee with the answers it requires.
IOL News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Are commissions in South Africa a tool for justice or a shield for corruption?
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo chaired the Judicial Commission into State Capture. The Zondo Commission's R1 billion inquiry yielded minimal prosecutions despite documenting R1.5 trillion in state capture. Image: Karen Sandison/African News Agency (ANA) FORMER EFF politician Mbuyiseni Ndlozi argues that a president cannot find anyone guilty, advocating instead for proper judicial commissions of inquiry, led by a judge, with strict timelines. He deems this 'proper' for a democracy. However, the subsequent analysis of South African commissions reveals how they often fall short of this ideal, instead perpetuating systemic violence and delaying justice. The Commissions Act, 1947 (Act No 8 of 1947), used for inquiries such as the Zondo Commission on State Capture, originated under British colonial rule. This embedded a legalistic façade for systemic violence. It enabled apartheid-era inquiries, such as the Hefer Commission (2003) and Donen Commission (2002), which probed 'financial irregularities' while ignoring Black suffering under racial capitalism. Like colonial inquests pathologising indigenous resistance, modern commissions prioritise bureaucratic order over human dignity. Tebogo Thobejane's condemnation: 'No mention of the lack of protection… left to fight alone,' echoes this centuries-old erasure. After surviving an assassination attempt, she now navigates a trial process offering legal theatrics, not safety. 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 Commissions ritually harvest victim trauma while withholding redress. The Marikana Commission (2012) gathered 641 days of testimony from widows of massacred miners, yet delivered no prosecutions or timely reparations. This pattern repeats in Thobejane's case as her ex-boyfriend's corruption trial expands while her paralysed friend remains unsupported. Similarly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) heard 21 000 victims' testimonies but granted amnesty to 1 500 perpetrators, providing only nominal reparations. This dynamic inherits colonial evidence-gathering: Black pain becomes archival fodder, catalogued and then discarded. As Thobejane noted, President Cyril Ramaphosa's speeches often overlook victims, reducing their experiences to procedural footnotes. Commission structures inherently protect power networks. The Mokgoro Commission (2018) and Ginwala Inquiry (2007) scrutinised prosecutors threatening political elites under the NPA Act. Inquiries into police violence, such as those in Khayelitsha (2012), operated with weaker mandates. This bifurcation mirrors colonial divide-and-rule tactics, ensuring accountability often evaporates. The Zondo Commission's R1 billion inquiry, for instance, yielded minimal prosecutions despite documenting R1.5 trillion in state capture. Victims like Thobejane experience justice as temporary violence, marked by endless postponements while perpetrators retain influence. Ramaphosa's latest commission of inquiry investigating the now suspended chief of police, Senzo Mchunu, offers suspension, not prosecution. Judicial appointments cloak commissions in false objectivity. Retired judges like Judge Ian Farlam (Marikana) and Seriti (Arms Deal) lent legitimacy to inquiries that ultimately shielded the interests of the state and corporations. The President's latest 'independent commission' further demonstrates how these bodies often obscure underlying political complexities and power struggles. This legal theatre pathologises victims: Marikana miners were framed as 'illegal strikers', while Thobejane's assault became a tabloid spectacle. Colonial inquiries similarly recast resistance as deviance, using statutes to sanctify state violence. When commissions centre perpetrators' due process over victims' safety, they enact 'racial terror through bureaucracy'. The TRC's unresolved legacy continues to haunt contemporary commissions. Thirty years later, only 137 of its recommended prosecutions have been investigated, while apartheid-era cases like the Cradock Four murders remain in legal limbo. Nomonde Calata's tears at a 2025 inquest echo her 1996 TRC testimony, testifying to the commission's broken promises. Thobejane's demand for 'accountability and support' confronts this cycle; her ex-boyfriend faces new charges while his police and political connections remain intact. Reparations remain theoretical: TRC victims received a single payment of R30 000 each, while Marikana families await R1 billion in compensation. This reflects colonialism's core calculus: human suffering indexed against fiscal 'pragmatism'. Breaking this machinery requires centring victims as architects, not evidence. Unlike Ramaphosa's commissions, a transformative approach would enforce existing recommendations: implementing the Khayelitsha Commission's 2012 police reforms, funding TRC-mandated educational reparations, and prosecuting the network of Thobejane's ex-boyfriend beyond his hitmen. Thobejane's couragec — demanding protection while testifying — sets a model for this agency. Yet, without dismantling the Commissions Act and colonial-era legalisms, inquiries remain stone fortresses where violence is ritualised, not remedied. South Africa remains fractured by inequality, a landscape where commissions consecrate state power while the vulnerable fight alone in the ruins. Siyayibanga le economy! * Siyabonga Hadebe is an independent commentator based in Geneva on socio-economic, political and global matters. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL. 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IOL News
15-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Limited progress in South Africa's release of government-owned land: what it means for development
A file picture showing a KwaZulu-Natal North Coast sugarcane farm. Beneficiaries of a settled land claim for prime land in KwaDukuza were yet to benefit from the property due to disputes. Image: Karen Sandison/ Independent Newspapers While the release of the government-owned land remains ever more important in South Africa's development, the country has seen very little progress in that regard. Disappointingly, the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development has made limited progress on this matter despite this being one of the central aspects of the agricultural sector's inclusive growth agenda, says Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa(Agbiz). 'In essence, while we confront many present-day challenges, these long-term reforms of the AAMP and land release must continue for the sector to achieve its inclusive growth aspirations,' Sihlobo said. Delivering the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development Budget Vote Speech last week, Minister Mzwanele Nyhontsho said the overall budget of the Department for the 2025 financial year is R9 820 billion. He said relative to the total allocation, Land and Tenure Reform and Restitution have received the largest share, amounting to R6 168 billion or 63 per cent of the total allocation. 'This demonstrates that our budget is grounded on our core mandate. "The Land Redistribution and Tenure Reform branch has been allocated a total budget of R1 073 billion. Within this budget, a total allocation of R559 million has been set aside to acquire and allocate 44 000 hectares of land,' Nyhontsho said. He added that the department continues to process applications for awards of land to labour tenants, which were lodged not later than 31 March 2001. He said it should be acknowledged, though, that the area of tenure security for labour tenants, including the continuing spate of illegal evictions, remains an unacceptable situation. 'The Department is implementing a comprehensive plan to address historical inefficiencies relating to the management of state land. This includes calling for accountability from some recalcitrant officials and ensuring consequence management. "Our Department is also addressing the challenges related to Communal Property Associations (CPAs), particularly their dysfunctionality. To address this challenge, the Department is implementing measures that include the establishment of an independent CPA office, which is currently headed by an Acting Registrar. "Furthermore, a continuous process of training the executives of these structures on governance, financial management, land management, and related skills and capabilities is currently underway. A series of roadshows that will culminate with a CPA Indaba has also been planned.' The Minister said the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has been allocated a budget of R3.7 billion for the current financial year. He said the speed with which the claims are settled is heavily reliant on the allocated budget year on year. 'To address the challenge of expediting the pace of settling of the old order land claims, i.e. those lodged before the original cut-off date of 31 December 1998, the Commission is streamlining processes, underwritten by new policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs), as part of an acceleration strategy. "That said, however, additional financial and human resources will still be required, and in general terms, we have to focus on enhancing the efficiency of the offices of the Land Claims Commission in the whole country.' Speaking at the NARYSEC YOUTH pass-out event last month, Stanley Mathabatha, the Deputy Minister in the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development, said they were well aware of the challenges facing rural communities. He said these challenges include high levels of poverty and unemployment. 'One of the most pressing issues is the legacy of colonial and apartheid uneven development between, on the one hand, developed metropolitan regions and, on the other hand, underdeveloped rural areas. "The development challenge is evident in the limited access rural communities have to economic infrastructure, economic investment, economic resources and economic opportunities that you find in developed metropolitan regions,' Mathabatha said. The deputy minister said that as a result, they continue to see growing migration patterns from rural areas to developed metropolitan regions, as people search for economic opportunities and resources. 'Some refer to this process simply as urbanisation. However, we understand that successful rural development, grounded in equitable investment and distribution of resources, and in continuously improved integrated strategic planning, can change this pattern. "By making rural areas more attractive and economically viable, we can begin to redress the uneven development imbalance and create a more inclusive, balanced national development path.' The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development said it knew the strength, resilience and untapped potential in the rural space. 'We are investing in skills, from agriculture to engineering, technology and rural industrialisation, from new venture creation to economic and social infrastructure development, to name but a few, so that youth become the drivers of rural transformation.' Independent Media Property
IOL News
11-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Pretoria, check your tickets! Two millionaire Lotto winners yet to claim their cash
Two Pretoria residents are now millions richer! Image: Karen Sandison/Independent Media Two Pretoria residents have struck it rich after winning their shares in Wednesday night's Lotto draw. Ithuba announced that the first winner who has won the R8,356,457.60 LOTTO jackpot from draw number 2557, bought their ticket at a Shoprite Checkers store in Pretoria with aR70 wager using the Quick Pick selection method. "The second winner has won the R19,435,068.10 LOTTO PLUS 2 jackpot with a ticket bought on their banking app with a R30 wager, using the QuickPick selection method," Ithuba said in a statement. Ithuba CEO, Charmaine Mabuza, extended her congratulations to the two new multi-millionaires. "The two winners, utilised different platforms to play in this draw which showcases the National accessibility and user-friendly platforms that make it possible for players from all walks of life to participate and win. "Whether you're a tech-savvy player who prefers to play digitally or someone who enjoys the traditional experience of buying tickets at a local store, the National Lottery caters to diverse needs and preferences," she added. 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 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. Next Stay Close ✕ Mabuza encouraged the in-store participants in the Pretoria area to check their tickets. "For the player who played through a banking app, their bank would have already notified them," she said. All winners have 365 days from the draw date to claim their winnings, and all National Lottery winnings are tax-free. Participants can check their tickets at retail stores or on-line through the National Lottery website or social media pages as there are more winners in other divisions. IOL
