The first soda tax on the African continent will be introduced on April 1, 2017, when a proposed 20 percent tax on soft drinks is expected to take effect in South Africa. Soda consumption in South Africa has been steadily growing for at least 30 years, as has the country’s rate of obesity — it is now ranked the most obese country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Alarmed by the obesity epidemic, South Africa’s Department of Health has developed a plan to reduce the nation’s obesity rate by 10 percent by 2020; encouraging physical activity is an integral part of that plan, as are taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and sugary and high-fat foods.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan addressed the sugar-sweetened beverages tax in his 2017 Budget Speech. He said the ministry and the Department of Health were working together to craft the tax, which had been “revised to include both intrinsic and added sugars.” The tax is set to be implemented sometime later this year “once details are finalized and the legislation is passed.” An August 2016 government report on the proposed tax lists April 1 as the proposed start date.

The Treasury Department’s SSB proposal acknowledges that “the causes of obesity and being overweight are complex,” but it notes that “dietary intake and food choices play an important role.” It highlights findings from a 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) study, that “globally, fiscal measures such as taxes are increasingly recognised as effective complementary tools” to tackle obesity and the noncommunicable diseases that result from it (e.g., diabetes).

Yet soda taxes are not flawless. Taxes on consumption are widely considered to be regressive, and the proposal brings up concerns that a tax on SSBs will “cause harm to those most vulnerable in society.” However, it also notes that “obesity itself is a regressive disease that disproportionately affects those in lower socio-economic groups.”