'Closure of Tongaat Hulett would be disastrous'

Tongaat Hulett's closure would affect farmers and small-scale growers especially in KwaZulu-Natal.

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Dr Thomas Funke, CEO of SA Canegrowers, said farmers are alarmed that the business rescue process has ended in what appears to be a funding deadlock between the Vision Consortium and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

He warned: If the mills don’t open, farmers won't be able to deliver their crop, and they won't get paid. That means farm labourers, small-scale growers and farming families will be severely affected. Job losses will be massive in this industry.”

Tongaat Hulett was placed in business rescue in October 2022, triggered by severe accounting irregularities and governance failures under its former management, which destroyed approximately Ri2-billion in shareholder value and left the company with a massively weakened balance sheet.