Tongaat Hulett’s liquidation would put South Africa’s sugar industry on the brink of collapse, with spillover effects that could crush any hope of faster economic growth.
Lying at the heart of South Africa’s sugar industry, Tongaat Hulett has the capacity to mill two million tonnes of sugar and indirectly supports tens of thousands of jobs.
While the company was marred by an accounting scandal in 2019, the reasons for its potential liquidation are more fundamental.
The local sugar industry simply cannot compete with cheap imports from Asia into South Africa, Remgro CEO Jannie Durand recently told 702.
Durand called on the government to step in and save Tongaat Hulett by protecting the broader industry…