The security guard
in front of me at the check out queue popped his purchases onto the counter - a
loaf of unsliced, brown bread and 2 litres of Coca-Cola. Driving past his guard
hut a few minutes later I noticed him hungrily ripping the loaf into bite-sized
chunks. Fuel for his lengthy night shift.
The lack of
affordable nutrition in this country continues to irk me and, I daresay, is a significant
driver behind our appalling school grades and overall lack of significant
grassroots growth and progress. How can people give of their best when they are
hungry, or feeding their bodies with non-nutritive calories?
We live in a
twilight world where a small tier of middle class and wealthy South Africans
spend big money on Omega oils and a cornucopia of ‘nutriceuticals’ to cherish
body and brain while rubbing shoulders with the vast layer of people struggling
to afford enough calories to satisfy their hunger.
There is plenty of
press coverage at the moment regarding the proposed ‘sugar tax’, reportedly
driven by the Department of Health’s concern for the skyrocketing rates of diabetes
and other, sugar fuelled, diseases. Well and good but I for one have little
faith in the reasoning and integrity behind yet another tax on burdened South
Africans. Does anyone remember the
plastic bag levy introduced in 2003? Reams of newsprint were devoted to how
this small tax (originally 3c per bag, now 8c) would fund recycling plants,
provide jobs, eradicate our ‘national flower’ (referring to the number of
plastic bags littering the land) and save the environment.
The proof of
anything is always in the results and at the end of August 2016, R1,1 billion
had been scooped up by Treasury and R5 billion pocketed by retailers on the
sale of plastic shopping bags. Buyisa
e-Bag, the Section 21 company created by this initiative, whose core business was to develop entrepreneurs
and create sustainable opportunities in the recycling and waste management
sectors, all funded by the plastic bag tax, was closed in 2011 because it hadn’t
achieved much at all. And as Treasury refuses to ‘ring fence’ tax money, the
plastic bag tax wasn’t spent exclusively on Buyisa during its existence either; they received some R216 million between 2003 and 2011, a fraction of the income
earned under the environmental opportunities banner. Yet consumers, their
behaviour unchanged due to their lack of education by the powers that be about the environmental damage
caused by these bags, continue to pay up to 75c per bag and the retailers, and
fiscus, are laughing all the way to the bank.
How can we have
any faith in the integrity and effectiveness of another ‘do-gooder’ tax, this
time on sugar? Not for a minute do I dispute the evils of sugar and it’s
addiction (hello, my name is Tracy and I’m a chocolate addict) but is a tax on
sugar going to stop addicts consuming it? After all, sin taxes on ciggies and alchohol
don’t stop addicts getting their fix. While we are on the addict front, I think
it’s rather mean to benefit the fiscus at the expense of an addiction in any
case.
No, my concern is
that one security guard and the millions of South Africans who consume sugar-laden
products because they simply cannot afford healthier options. A brief search of Shoprite’s (a local chain
of low priced supermarkets) prices paints the reality of low cost food: R7.99
for 1,5L of a fizzy, sugar laden soft drink versus R22.99 for 2L of fresh
milk. R4.99 for a loaf of instore baked brown bread, versus a prepacked
sandwich (processed cheese and ham) R14.99.
Overarcing the
entire discussion is also the lack of trust in our government to wisely
shepherd and spend this money. A Treasury spokesman assures us that the new tax
is not seen as a money spinner for government, as it is likely to ‘only’ raise
between R1 billion and R2 billion.
From poor people who can’t afford fresh
food, and addicts who can’t help themselves.
Nice one, guys. If the health of the nation was truly their intention, couldn't a better way be found than a tax?
Tom Brown’s 1680
rhyme rings ever true of our politicians.
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why - I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.
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