Stakeholder arguments during the adoption of a sugar sweetened beverage tax in South Africa and their influence: a content analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1. Record selection process.

Figure 2. Timeline of the parliamentary process of adopting an SSB tax.

Table 1. Overview of submissions on the SSB tax (n = 48).

Submissions	Opposed	Opposed Specific Part	Neutral	Supported	Total
Industry-related organisations	16	6	1	0	23
Industry	5	4	0	0	9
Industry association	10	1	0	0	11
Industry-funded research	1	1	1	0	3
Labour unions	2	0	0	0	2
Non-governmental organizations	1	0	0	20	21
Academic institutions	0	0	0	7	7
Civil society organisations	0	0	0	8	8
Health associations	0	0	0	4	4
Other	1	0	0	1	2
Government departments	0	0	0	2	2
Total	19 (39,6%)	6 (12,5%)	1 (2,1%)	22 (45,8%)	48 (100%)

Table 2. Political parties’ positions on HPL as a % of comments made on the HPL in committee meetings (30 words).

Position on the Tax	Opposed (%)	Opposed specific part (%)	Neutral (%)	Supported (%)
African National Congress	3	3	32	62
Democratic Alliance	0	22	56	22
Economic Freedom Front	0	0	50	50
National Freedom Party	0	0	0	100

Table 3. Breakdown of key arguments made on the HPL in submissions.

Theme	Argument	Instances raised	Stakeholders raising argument (n)
Economic considerations	Effect on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) Negative effect on the economy Job losses Economic benefits of the tax	34	Academia (5) Civil Society (6) Industry (5) Industry Associations (11) Health Associations (2) Labour (3) Other (2)
Impact on the vulnerable	Impact on the poor/regressive nature of the tax Impact on children	26	Academia (4) Civil Society (5) Industry (4) Industry Associations (5) Health Associations (4) Labour (3) Other (1)
The responsiveness of an SSB tax to the problem of obesity	Support of government action to reduce obesity Complexity of the problem of obesity Alternative actions to the tax through voluntary measures, public-private partnerships and other existing measures Health benefits of the tax	38	Academia (5) Civil Society (7) Industry (6) Industry Associations (11) Health Associations (4) Labour (3) Other (2)
The appropriateness of an SSB tax in South Africa	Evidence on efficacy, impact and feasibility of the tax Administrative burden of implementing the tax Efficacy of the tax in other countries	43	Academia (7) Civil Society (8) Industry (6) Industry Associations (9) Industry Research (3) Health Associations (5) Labour (3) Other (2)
Procedural concerns	Public engagement Stakeholder and cross-sectoral engagement Jurisdiction Evaluation of socio-economic impact Delay adoption of the tax	23	Academia (2) Civil Society (2) Industry (5) Industry Associations (8) Health Associations (1) Labour (3) Other (2)
Structure of the tax	Scope of the tax Appropriate tax rate Exemptions or threshold Potential earmarking and use of revenue Inclusion of 100% fruit juices and dairy products	33	Academia (7) Civil Society (5) Industry (7) Industry Associations (5) Industry Research (2) Health Associations (3) Labour (2) Other (2)