Canegrowers in KwaZulu-Natal breathed a sigh of relief recently when the liquidation of sugar giant Tongaat Hulett was avoided through additional funding of R200 million.
This means that crucial milling of sugarcane can begin. More than 18 000 growers, the bulk of whom are small-scale growers, have no other option than Tongaat Hulett’s mills to process their sugarcane.
Had the company been placed in unfunded provisional liquidation, their farms would have become economically unviable, leading to thousands of rural job losses, the South African Canegrowers Association said.
While the milling season had opened in other regions, Tongaat’s mills remained closed pending the outcome of Thursday’s…