With less than a month before the fate of Tongaat Hulett is argued in the Durban High Court, key stakeholders have intensified efforts to save KZN’s sugar giant, reports The Witness.

The application to liquidate the sugar producer, brought by Tongaat Hulett’s Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs), is scheduled to be heard on April 16 and 17.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), which has so far secured R2b towards saving Tongaat Hulett, is opposing the liquidation application, as is the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which has also invested more than R2b into the company.

According to the BRPs, the application became the only option after Tongaat Hulett’s main investor, Vision Group Consortium, led by IT billionaire Robert Gumede, rejected an IDC condition requiring the consortium to inject an additional R200m before further funding would be released.

When the deal fell through, the Vision Group Consortium was said to have signalled that it was turning its back on Tongaat Hulett.

However, Gumede — who recently held a meeting with Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini — denied that the consortium planned to disinvest.

“All that the Vision Group Consortium has been requesting is for all stakeholders to work together and save Tongaat Hulett. Can Tongaat Hulett be saved? Absolutely. But it requires everybody to sit around the table and find a lasting solution, not put a bandage on a cancer wound,” said Gumede.

The consortium, Gumede added, has ambitious plans for the company.

“We are capable of turning this business around and will be able to diversify it into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. We are not here for a quick buck. We are here to turn the business around, grow it and diversify it into energy and ethanol production,” he said.

Industry bodies have warned that time is running out to prevent severe disruption to the sugar sector.

Unless the matter is resolved by consent, judgment could be reserved for weeks or even months, prolonging uncertainty for the thousands of workers and growers who depend on the company.

Tongaat Hulett’s bank accounts have been frozen following the liquidation application, raising concerns about the company’s ability to continue operations as the sugarcane harvest season approaches.

Sugarcane must be processed soon after harvesting, making the continued operation of Tongaat’s mills critical.

Thomas Funke, CEO of SA Canegrowers, which represents 27 000 small-scale and 1 100 large-scale growers, said while there is still hope for a negotiated solution, contingency planning is under way.

“Although there is still hope that a negotiated solution may be found to avoid liquidation completely, we are also hoping to ensure that if a liquidation does proceed, it would at least be a funded liquidation which would allow operations to continue,” he added.

Funke said Tongaat Hulett’s mills and refinery remain operational, having been prepared for the 2025/26 season when the BRPs lodged the provisional liquidation application.

He said any disruption would have devastating consequences.

“All parties involved understand what is at stake should Tongaat Hulett face an unfunded liquidation or even a temporary stoppage of work: the majority of South Africa’s small- and large-scale sugarcane growers will immediately lose market access, leading to devastating income and job losses in rural KZN. With less than a month to go until the liquidation hearing, everything is being done to avert such an outcome,” he said.

Tongaat Hulett remains a pillar of the provincial economy, with its three mills — Maidstone, Amatikulu and Felixton — providing a market for about 27 000 small-scale growers and more than 1 000 large-scale farmers, sustaining an estimated 40 000 direct and indirect jobs.

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said the government would not allow the company to collapse.

“The challenges facing Tongaat Hulett are of serious national concern, given the company’s central role in South Africa’s sugarcane industry and the extensive socio-economic impact across KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and surrounding rural economies,” said Tau.

Business strategist Mthuthuzeli Maseko said it remains critical for stakeholders to reach agreement before the court hearing.

“Indications are that the stakeholders are talking to each other. Should they find common ground, they will then have to present their agreement before the court. If there is an agreement, such an agreement becomes an order of the court. If that happens, then there will be no need for Tongaat Hulett to be liquidated,” Maseko said.

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