In March 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a recommendation that, in order to avoid a negative impact on health, people should obtain no more than 10% of their daily calorie intake from free sugars. Over-consumption of sugar has been implicated in the occurrence of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia and tooth decay - all of which are on the rise in Africa. South Africans consume the largest amount of sugar in Africa. They consume between 12 and 24 teaspoons of sugar per day - four to eight teaspoons are from sugar sweetened beverages - which is above the WHO guideline of a total limit of 6 teaspoons of sugar per day. Legislation on sugar tax by the South African government which was effected in April of 2017 was targeted at curbing the rising rates of obesity, diabetes and heart related diseases. South Africa follows the footsteps of Mexico, France, Hungary and the state of New York in the USA that have pioneered the strategy. The sugar tax by South Africa is one of the ambitious strategies to reduce obesity by 10% by 2020 and includes other legislation such as the salt reduction legislation, trans-fat regulations and stricter label and advertising regulations.

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