President Ramaphosa is under increasing pressure to take immediate action against Brazilian sugar imports, as local growers warn of a devastating impact on South Africa's sugar industry and livelihoods.
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President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing mounting pressure to halt sugar imports from Brazil immediately following his recent state visit to the South American nation.
The call for urgent diplomatic and economic intervention comes as SA Canegrowers warns that a "flood" of sugar from Brazil is systematically dismantling the local industry and pushing milling giant Tongaat Hulett toward the brink.
Tongaat Hulett is facing possible liquidation, with the matter before the Durban High Court.
SA Canegrowers said that data from SARS, tracked by the industry body, reveals a staggering surge in foreign sugar entering South African ports.
In January 2026 alone, 24,600 tons of refined sugar were imported from countries including Brazil, India, and Thailand. This single month of imports remarkably exceeded the total annual imports for the entire years of 2020, 2021, and 2022 combined.
It said the financial hemorrhaging is severe, with the local industry losing more than R7,000 for every ton of locally produced sugar displaced by these imports.
For the 2025/26 season, this represents a combined R1.5 billion blow to a sector that supports over a million livelihoods across the rural economies of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
Higgins Mdluli, chairman of SA Canegrowers, said that these imports do not lead to cheaper prices for South African consumers. Instead, "opportunistic agents" are allegedly exploiting low global sugar prices and weak local tariff protections to buy cheap and sell at local market rates, pocketing the profits while effectively exporting South African jobs.
The crisis is further complicated by the precarious state of Tongaat Hulett, South Africa’s only stand-alone sugar refinery. The refinery produces the specific white sugar profile required by food and beverage manufacturers, the exact market currently being saturated by the influx of foreign refined sugar.
Mdluli warned that even if Tongaat Hulett is rescued from its potential liquidation, it will continue to struggle in an environment where weak import tariffs undermine its core business.
Last week, Parks Tau, the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition, met with industry stakeholders and the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) to discuss the surge. However SA Canegrowers said the early 2026 data suggests that recent adjustments to import tariffs have had no effect.
SA Canegrowers is now urging the President to engage directly with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to stop Brazilian imports, maintaining that South Africa is entirely self-sufficient in sugar production.
The organisation said ITAC must finalise its tariff review to provide a fair trading environment and ensure the survival of the growers, workers, and communities that rely on the industry as their lifeblood.
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