South African trade alliance calls for abolishing chicken taxes

The South African Informal Traders Alliance (SAITA), which represents more than 2 million micro-enterprises across South Africa, joins the call for the government to remove tariff taxes and VAT on chicken products. The alliance said it will provide low-income merchants and consumers with appropriate assistance as prices for this important food source continue to rise.

“South Africans are really struggling financially,” said Rosheda Müller, national president of SAITA. “The cost of living seems to be rising to an unsustainable level, especially when you consider that wages are not moving in the same direction.”

“Every single day, we see other costs rising – gasoline, electricity, transportation and, most importantly, food,” she said. “Chicken is perhaps the most important part of our diet, and often the only MEAT that the local population can afford.”

The most common products sold by small traders and shops are fruits and vegetables, chicken and eggs, dairy products, chips, sweets, soft drinks and tobacco products.

“What happens when a person can no longer afford a product? He just stops eating it,” Muller says. “The problem is that the prices of all the nutrient-dense foods eaten in poorer communities are going up.”

According to Mueller, the price increase looks like this:

Eggs +15%

Chicken legs +10%

Chicken gizzards +15%

Chicken liver +32%

Beef liver +30%

Beef 11%

Sausage +11%

Fish +7%

Chicken nuggets +11%

“When food prices rise to this level, people are starving and not getting the nutrient rich foods they need to stay healthy,” Muller said. "Tax removal will have a profound impact on people's ability to afford this most important category of food."