Category: Health Promotion Levy

Media Statement

For Immediate Release

June 10, 2026 (Johannesburg) — A formidable coalition of global health experts and advocates is demanding FIFA commit to ending its partnership with Coca-Cola by 2030. The Kick Big Soda Out movement has targeted FIFA across major tournaments, where campaigners have accused Coca-Cola of sportswashing its health and environmental harms through stadium branding, broadcasts and social media. Despite sustained pressure, FIFA has failed to respond.

The tension is hard to ignore. Governments worldwide have introduced front-of-package warning labels and health taxes on sugary drinks — measures designed to protect public health and curb consumption of the very products Coca-Cola markets to millions of fans, especially children. FIFA’s commercial partnerships have long drawn scrutiny for the way they stand in direct opposition to these local health policies. Coca-Cola’s prominent presence at FIFA tournaments follows the same playbook — asking these same countries to spotlight one of the world’s biggest sweetened drink companies while sidelining regulations designed to protect public health.

“Sugary drinks are fuelling a global health crisis. Obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease are rising at alarming rates, and Coca-Cola’s aggressive marketing is a driving force behind that. FIFA reaches five billion people through this World Cup and has a responsibility to those fans. Lending that platform to one of the world’s biggest sugary drink companies sends entirely the wrong message. That is exactly why we are demanding FIFA chooses differently, ” says Nomfundo Mbuli Programmes manager at the Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA).

Excess sugar consumption drives rising rates of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Big Soda’s aggressive marketing reaches millions, including children, influencing their preferences and purchases.

According to Mbuli “FIFA markets itself as a force for good for children, for communities, for the world. But you cannot champion the health of young people in one breath and sell their attention to the world’s biggest sugary drink company in the next. We are not asking FIFA to choose between football and health – we are asking them to choose both. This is FIFA’s moment to show that football truly belongs to the people – not to the corporations profiting from their ill health.”

Kick Big Soda Out has amassed over 523,000 supporters and the backing of 97 organizations since its launch during the 2024 Paris Olympics. The campaign’s ask is clear: FIFA must use the 2026 World Cup as a turning point, not another missed opportunity.

Join the movement demanding FIFA end its Coca-Cola partnership by 2030 at www.kickbigsodaout.org and use #KickBigSodaOutofSport to join the conversation.

Media Contact: Zukiswa Zimela, HEALA Communications Manager 0745210652 | zukiswa@heala.org

About HEALA: HEALA is a coalition of civil society organisations advocating for equitable access to affordable, nutritious food in South Africa by building a more just food system.

Media Statement

01 October 2024

For Immediate Release 

On 30 September, the SA Canegrowers Association publicly questioned whether a tax on sodas is intended to be a health tax. Higgins Mdluli, the Chair of SA Canegrowers’ Association, asks: “At what point do we look at the data with common sense and admit the tax is not working?” He asks this after referring to two local studies, (both which are used to support the success of the tax, by the way) because: one study found that the single intervention of the sugar tax did not fix the whole problem of bad diets in South Africa, so people are still gaining weight. The second found that people buy less sodas, and then buy other products with that money instead. A finding one would think speaks to the fact that consumers substitute purchasing: so a job in one industry where fewer products are being bought, will be replaced by a job in another industry, where more products are being purchased.

There is a lot to be said about the evidence about sugar-sweetened beverage taxation. Given that the Health Promotion Levy has only been in effect for six years, and that changes in population diet and health outcomes are usually measured in decades, there is comprehensive evidence to show it is already working. We know that the Levy has led to a reduction in soda purchases (especially in lower socio-economic income groups) and a reduction in sugar added to sodas by companies.  Evidence shows that people are buying less sugary drinks, and when they do those drinks are less sugary.  

We have this evidence, despite successful lobbying from the industry that has led to a Levy almost half of the recommended rate by WHO, and without it being increased for inflation. We know that after decades, sugar-sweetened beverage taxation rates are more supported than ever, and that an increasing body of evidence shows it works.

The sugar industry relies on studies – funded by them – to show that there are job losses in their sector “due to the HPL”. It would be refreshing to see these studies being reported accurately to reflect the whole set of circumstances that lead to forecasted or modelled job losses. Significant sugar dumping in South Africa, droughts, the impact of the Durban riots and the corporate fraud of Tongaat Hulett (leading to 5000 retrenchments) are all cited as underlying reasons by their own studies. The actual job portion of job losses attributed to the HPL are disputed. 

For far too long industry has been allowed to aggressively fight health promotion interventions across the globe by making deceptive economic threats, supporting junk science that minimizes the health impacts of their products and other strategies to block and undermine SB tax- advocacy efforts by influencing governments, the public and the media. South Africa is hanging on the edge of a non-communicable disease cliff.  We know that the overconsumption of sweetened beverages is bad for our health. It is common sense for government to take steps to reduce consumption. We can no longer allow industry to bully, coerce and misinform decision makers for the benefit of their bottom line.

“ENDS”

For media interviews contact 

Zukiswa Zimela Communications Manager

0745210652 | zukiswa[@]heala.com

Following the SA Canegrowers Association’s unsubstantiated claim that the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) has led to the loss of 16 000 jobs, the Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA) feels it is important to dispute the claim as baseless and unfounded. 

Researchers from SAMRC/Wits Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science, Priceless SA, used a single-group interrupted time series analyses using the Quarterly Labour Force Survey data from Statistics South Africa to find out how many jobs were lost due to the implementation of the HPL. The study, released in 2024 found no evidence of job losses due to the levy. 

The true cost of sugar consumption

The science is clear that the over-consumption of sugar in liquid form is highly dangerous for our health. Evidence shows that “Independent of the “empty” calories from sugary drinks, the sugars in sugary drinks alter the body’s metabolism, affecting insulin, cholesterol, and metabolites that cause high blood pressure and inflammation. These changes to the body increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, tooth decay, and liver disease.”  

The aim of the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) is to reduce local demand and consumption of refined white sugar and safeguard the health of all South Africans. 

South Africa is seeing an explosion of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases like diabetes, and heart disease. An estimated 7 in 10 women and 1 in 3 men in the country are obese and overweight. South Africans cannot be forced to continue to consume high levels of sugar for the sake of the sugar industry. The same industry, which laments the so called effects of the HPL, has been rocked by numerous scandals of mismanagement and fraud.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

While the SA Canegrowers Association misrepresents the truth, tax payers and the state are bearing the huge cost of overweight and obesity. A 2022 study from Priceless SA found that these diseases “are costing South Africa’s health system R33 billion (US$1.9bn) a year. This represents 15.38% of government health expenditure and is equivalent to 0.67% of GDP. Annual per person cost of overweight and obesity is R2,769.”

On the other hand, from its inception on 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2021, the HPL has generated R7.9 billion in cumulative revenue from domestically produced and imported products. Specifically, collections in 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 were R3.2 billion, R2.5 billion and R2.1 billion respectively.  An increase in the HPL to the recommended 20% could almost double the revenue collected by Treasury.

Pivoting to Biofuels

Times are changing. South Africa needs to join countries like India who have moved away from a consumption model to keep the industry afloat towards the production of ethanol for biofuel production. The sugar industry has been given two years to focus on diversification by the government. Currently there is been no proof that they have used that time in good faith.

Change will come

Obesity is a complex issue that requires a multipronged approach. Slowing down and reversing the trend will take some time. We cannot allow the trend to continue unabated. It is clear that the government urgently needs to put in place evidence-based solutions to get the process started, including increasing the levy to 20% and adding fruit juices in the HPL.

In less than a decade since its implementation the HPL has had positive results. Following the implementation of the HPL young adults in Langa in the Western Cape aged 18-39 years reported they drank 37% less sugar sweetened beverages and reduced sugar intake by nearly a third (31%).