Tongaat Hulett has been granted a temporary reprieve from liquidation after the Durban High Court approved an adjournment, giving business rescue practitioners time to finalise a recovery plan backed by billions in IDC funding
Tongaat Hulett, once the pride of the sugar belt and a 134-year-old industrial icon, has collapsed under the weight of mismanagement, scandal and shifting global markets
The government says the ailing company is a crucial player in South Africa’s sugar value chain and its demise would have ‘far-reaching and devastating consequences’ for the sector
Vision, the lead secured lender to the troubled sugar giant, said it was committed to saving the company and jobs despite the business rescue process failing
Small-scale and black-owned sugarcane farmers along with land reform beneficiaries have received R238.9 million in funding for transformation, but transparency has now become an issue
Bidder says rescue practitioners tried to manipulate process to favour ANC funder Robert Gumede
ANC funder Robert Gumede’s bid for the sugar giant may be on the rocks
The business rescue practitioners are also silent over the company’s debt deal
The agreement will give Terris Sugar discounted ownership of Tongaat Hulett’s R8 billion bank debt and control at the upcoming creditors’ vote
The South African Sugar Association will make payments for the 2023-24 season after sugar mills in northern KwaZulu-Natal defaulted on payments
The farmers hope that new management at Tongaat’s sugar operations will bring stability to the industry
The acquiring company will also buy Tongaat’s investments in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana
The profession has taken a reputational knock in recent years, amid serious accounting scandals
Eight companies are interested in bidding for either a full purchase of the company or parts of it
Delistings and barriers to newcomers threaten to make the local bourse more top-heavy, seeing it serve an even narrower section of the economy
The sugar industry says new regulations aimed at combating health problems will hurt profits and jobs, but a civil society coalition strongly disagrees
The industry must be protected from cheap imports and mills must continue operating because nonpayments affects farmers and industry partners
Some farmers are opting to diversify to crops like macadamia nuts, bananas and avocados, but this takes time and money
Shakaskraal is a microcosm of what lies ahead for many towns KwaZulu-Natal if its ailing sugar mills collapse
KwaZulu-Natal grower consortium wants to buy Tongaat Hulett operations
More than a century later, the descendants of indentured Indian labourers, stand to lose their livelihoods as the company faces collapse
Next season is also under threat if sugar giant’s mills close
Departing from its core business, and having its fingers in too many pies, is what crippled Tongaat Hulett and ultimately left it open to massive fraud
Tongaat Hulett said it entered into business rescue due to its debt burden and that waiting for additional funding exacerbated the already dire situation
South African competition watchdog has approved Tongaat takeover – with conditions
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Lindiwe Sisulu’s broadside isn’t the only attack on SA’s supreme law.
The group also wants to recoup $9-million in fake sugar sales in Zimbabwe
Incoming chief executive Ruwayda Redfearn says Deloitte has learned a lot about the importance of ‘professional scepticism’ from its corporate mishaps
A whistleblower says the former boss of the auditing regulatory body is behind a campaign to have its new chief executive sent packing
With my generation, we don’t have that much knowledge. But if you talk to our grandfathers they will tell you this type of meat is medicine. We get customers coming to buy it, especially for asthma and other chest problems. You have to have it boiled. It has to be plain as it is, maybe […]
Sugar barons going down and the new marijuana Bill are
timely distractions from thinking
about the old man