Durban – South Africa’s sugar industry faces a serious threat after Tongaat Hulett entered provisional liquidation, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen warned. The company filed for liquidation after its Business Rescue Plan stalled, funding agreements with Vision and the Industrial Development Corporation were not finalised, and previous sale agreements expired, leaving operations in jeopardy.
Steenhuisen said that if the situation remains unresolved, about 15,500 cane growers may be unable to deliver their crops for the April crushing season. Between 35,000 and 40,000 people who rely on the mills and associated supply chains could lose their livelihoods.
“This is not a theoretical risk; it is an immediate economic threat to rural communities. If the mills do not open, farmers cannot harvest, workers cannot earn an income, and entire local economies will stall. The longer uncertainty persists, the greater the damage becomes,” Steenhuisen said in a statement on Wednesday.
He added that agricultural production follows biological timelines, not legal or financial ones. “An intervention that unlocks funding and restores operational certainty is urgently required to protect both production and jobs.”
The ministry is engaging with government departments and financing stakeholders to support a practical solution that preserves production capacity. Steenhuisen stressed the focus is not to interfere in commercial negotiations but to ensure a viable path forward: “Our objective is not to intervene in commercial negotiations, but to ensure that a viable path forward exists so that growers can deliver cane, mills can operate, and workers can earn an income. The immediate priority must be keeping the season alive.”
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