Website and race body in bitter clash on submission against sugar tax

A row has erupted between the Institute of Race Relations and Naspers’s Fin24 website over a report that Coca-Cola was among sponsors of a submission to Treasury arguing against the proposed sugar tax.

The institute did not deny Fin24’s claim that its report "A stealth tax, not a health tax" was partly funded by Coca-Cola, but argued this did not effect its conclusions.

"Of course the private sector finances some of our research ... but we approach such investors strictly on the basis that the (institute) maintains complete editorial control over the research we conduct and the conclusions we reach," institute chief operating officer Gwen Ngwenya said in the response.

"The Fin24 ‘exposé’ embarrassingly exposes nothing at all, but concedes that it was the (institute) that approached companies for funding and not the reverse."
Coca-Cola would be worst hit by the government’s proposed sugar-sweetened beverages tax which involves a levy of 2.29c a gram on the added and intrinsic sugar contained in all soft-drinks other than 100% fruit juices and milk products.

According to government’s policy paper "this rate roughly equates to a 20% tax incidence for the most popular soft drink, Coca-Cola, averaging 35g per 330ml".
In its submission to Treasury, the institute cited studies arguing that the tax would further squeeze South African consumers without reducing the country’s obesity or diabetes problems.