The Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA) is calling on the South African government to increase the Health Promotion Levy (HPL) on sugary drinks from 11% to 20%, to help curb sugary drinks consumption and reduce the financial burden on the health system from rising non-communicable diseases.
This is prompted by statistics that revealed that diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) already account for over 50% of deaths from preventable diseases in South Africa.
The clarion call came against the backdrop of World Diabetes Day observance on Friday, 14 November. The HEALA’s new national campaign, which launched in November, brings this message to the fore in two phases.
The first calls for stronger health taxes across sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco, continuing South Africa’s proven track record of using taxation to advance public health.
The second sharpens focus on raising the HPL, calling for its increase as part of a consistent, evidence-based approach to protecting lives.
Additional evidence revealed that South Africa’s obesity rate is already twice the global average, and even one sugary drink a week raises a child’s risk of obesity and diabetes.
“One in four diabetes cases in the country is caused by sugary drink consumption.
“These numbers are not just statistics; they represent real people and families forced to navigate lifelong illness and financial hardship. Diabetes is now the second leading cause of death in South Africa, yet every year we allow preventable diseases to claim more lives,” said Nzama Mbalati, chief executive officer (CEO) of the HEALA.
“Raising the Health Promotion Levy is one of the simplest, most effective steps government can take to protect people’s health, especially children, who are consuming sugar at dangerous levels,” adds Mbalati.
Since the introduction of the HPL in 2018, beverage companies have reduced the sugar content of their drinks, leading to cuts in average per-capita sugar consumption. But the gains have stalled. HEALA and its partners warn that without further cuts in consumption, the policy’s impact will fade, while rates of diabetes will continue to climb.
South Africa’s obesity rate is already twice the global average, and even one sugary drink a week raises a child’s risk of obesity and diabetes. One in four diabetes cases in the country is caused by sugary drink consumption.
Treating obesity related conditions such as diabetes already costs SA more than R33 billion each year or about 15% of total government health spending. Modelling by PRICELESS SA (University of the Witwatersrand) shows that increasing the levy to 20% could save approximately 72 000 lives and prevent 85 000 strokes over two decades while easing the fiscal pressure on a health system already stretched beyond capacity.
Through personal stories of South Africans living with diabetes, the campaign reveals the real cost of inaction and unites civil society under the banner #OneVoice, calling on government to put public health before profit.
Alphinah Setumo (52), a mother from Mathibestad in the Northern Cape, lost both her legs and her eyesight after years of consuming sugary drinks without understanding the risks. “Back then, drinking two litres of a sugary drink a day was nothing,” she recalls. “If I had known what I know now, my life would be different.”
Mpho Thebe, a maths and science tutor from Kroonstad, tells a similar story. Once a daily consumer of fizzy drinks, he lost his left leg to diabetes at 45. Today, he walks with a prosthetic leg and teaches children about perseverance and prevention. “I thought sugar was harmless,” he says. “Now I know it can take everything from you.”
These stories mirror thousands of others across the country, where diabetes silently devastates families, especially in low-income communities where affordable, healthy food and clean water remain scarce.
