The 130-year-old Tongaat Hulett supports between 35,000 and 40,000 direct jobs at farm level and at its mills and refinery, making it an economic anchor for entire rural communities.
The farming industry is exploring ways to save parts of the embattled Tongaat Hulett company from liquidation and thousands of jobs in the sector. The farmers said a grower-led entity has been established with a view to securing the funding necessary to keep Tongaat Hulett’s mills and refinery operational.
Two organisations, the SA Canegrowers and SA Farmers Development Association (SAFDA), said with the liquidation hearing of Tongaat Hulett less than a month away and no firm solution to avoid liquidation in sight, a grower-led entity has been established to secure the funding necessary to keep Tongaat Hulett’s mills and refinery operational, without which many parts of the sugar industry would collapse.
The move has been welcomed by economic experts who said this is a potentially viable idea. The statement said the GrowerCo’s proposal is built around the long-term sustainability of Tongaat Hulett and includes small- and large-scale growers as equity partners, in stark contrast to an extractive private-equity model. It is focused on maintaining milling operations, safeguarding jobs, and preserving economic activity across rural KwaZulu-Natal.
