MALALANE- The South African Sugar Association (Sasa) has pleaded with the Mpumalanga Provincial Government to assist in protecting the livelihoods and jobs of sugarcane growers.
This was during a leadership engagement between sugar industry leaders and the government on Tuesday, November 4 where a number of issues ranging from job losses over the years to tariffs within the Exportation Act.
Sasa Executive Director, Sifiso Mhlaba pointed out that currently, one of the challenges with regards to imports coming primarily from Brazil into South Africa is an increase of more than 400% in terms of imports in the current season compared to the previous season.
He stated that Mpumalanga is a critical producer of sugarcane where about 20% of the sugarcane and sugar comes from and the other 80% comes from KwaZulu Natal.
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“This means for every tonne of sugar that is imported, we as a South African industry have to export that tonne of sugar out of the country and we do that at a loss of around 7,000 rand per tonne of sugar. That has a significant impact on the lives and livelihoods that depend on the South African industry.”
He added that this puts workers, farmers and the mills at risk. It has had an impact on job creation.
“We saw from 2018 how the industry used to create 85,000 direct jobs, however, now only 65 000 direct jobs are created which is a significant loss of jobs in the industry, partly linked to the imports,” explained Mhlaba.
When engaging the industry, Premier, Mandla Ndlovu gave assurance on government tackling all issues faced by farmers. He also touched base on the issue of job creation stating the impact it could have on the 270 000 indirect jobs created.
“If we do not pay special attention, many could be affected. We must
protect these jobs and growers who are currently in the system while we create more employment opportunities for others,” he said.
