A quarter-million jobs, one policy choice: Why predictable beer excise matters for craft and the wider economy

Somewhere between a barley field in the Free State and a taproom in a small town, a quarter of a million South Africans earn their living. 

They are farmers, factory workers, packaging suppliers, logistics operators, township retailers and hospitality staff. 

Across direct, indirect and induced effects, independent assessments estimate that the beer value chain supports more than 250,000 jobs and generates substantial revenue through excise, VAT, corporate income tax and personal income tax.

Each of those livelihoods is influenced by a single line in the National Budget: the annual adjustment to beer excise duty.

For years, South Africa’s excise framework has been guided by a clear principle — that real tax burdens should remain stable over time through inflation-linked adjustments. 

That predictability was designed to protect the legal tax base, provide revenue certainty to the fiscus and allow businesses to plan, invest and employ with confidence.

Ahead of the 2026 Budget, the industry’s request is straightforward: maintain that inflation-linked approach.

Treasury has also proposed structural reforms that would tax beer according to alcohol by volume (ABV) bands. Reform is a legitimate policy discussion, but design details matter. 

Most beers — including the majority of internationally recognised styles — fall within a relatively narrow ABV range. Significant excise differentials within that band risk creating unintended distortions across the category rather than improving public health or fiscal outcomes.

South Africa’s brewing landscape includes producers of different sizes operating across diverse regions and market segments. Across this ecosystem, product development follows recognised style guidelines, where alcohol content contributes to flavour balance and product integrity. 

A steep tax gradient within the core ABV range would narrow the range of beers that remain commercially viable to produce, limiting innovation and reducing diversity across the category. The impact would extend throughout the value chain — from agricultural inputs and packaging to distribution, retail and tourism.

The broader economic concern is structural. Sudden or disproportionate shifts within a narrow ABV band risk reshaping the legal market in ways that reduce product variety and weaken industry resilience. 

A competitive and diverse brewing ecosystem supports employment, encourages investment and sustains long-term revenue contributions. Policy design should preserve that balance rather than unintentionally disrupt it.

There is also a fiscal lesson. South Africa has seen in other excisable sectors how instability in the legal market, combined with sharp price shocks, can erode the tax base and create conditions in which illicit trade expands. 

The lesson is not about products; it is about policy design. Predictable and proportionate adjustments help preserve compliance, protect revenue and sustain formal employment.

The beer industry is not seeking preferential treatment. We are asking for adherence to the principles that have historically underpinned excise policy: transparency, proportionality and predictability. 

An inflation-linked adjustment in 2026 would affirm those principles, protect a geographically dispersed employment base and sustain government revenues without distorting the market.

In an uncertain economic environment, disciplined and predictable policy is not a concession to industry. 

It is sound fiscal management — and it is essential to preserving the resilience of South Africa’s brewing ecosystem and the quarter-million livelihoods connected to it.

Charlene Louw, CEO, Beer Association of South Africa (BASA), and Craig Claassen, Chair, Craft Beer Association of South Africa (CBASA)