Tongaat Hulett liquidation: Zulu King Misuzulu’s plan to save 25,000 jobs

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has mandated his leadership to engage with global entrepreneur and philanthropist Robert Gumede to save the Tongaat Hulett Limited (THL) company amid the threat to several jobs in KwaZulu-Natal's agriculture industry.

Zulu Royal Chancellor Inkosi Malusi Zondi said the king is worried about Tongaat Hulett’s possible liquidation and the potential loss of jobs.

It emerged last week that Tongaat Hulett's business rescue practitioners had filed for provisional liquidation. The company has been under business rescue for some time. This comes as the provincial government is also scrambling to find solutions to stave off job losses and the devastation to the agricultural sector that liquidation could bring.

Inkosi Zondi said the situation was not tolerable and needs to be contained. “What we are seeing is very painful. South Africans have worked for this company for a very long time, and there are no job opportunities. To hear that a company of this size is being liquidated does not sit well with us.”

He explained that he has been tasked by King Misuzulu to engage with billionaire businessman Gumede to discuss a solution to this crisis.

“We are going to fight; we are not going to allow this company to collapse and all the agricultural job opportunities linked to it to disappear. We are going to engage him [Gumede] so that he can work with banks to save that company and ensure that jobs can be preserved.”

Zondi noted that this is a double blow to farmers who were owed by the company and had to wait for years to be paid for sugarcane supplied.

“As the Zulu Royal Chancellor entrusted to improve the welfare of the Zulu people, I wish to assure farmers that I will fight the battle on their behalf to the bitter end. I will ensure that they are second in line to be paid after SARS. Banks and other big creditors can wait since they have enough financial reserves to withstand the liquidation shock. Small businesses often operate on month-to-month budgets and cannot afford to be last in line, as it always happens when a company is liquidated.”

MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Musa Zondi said the company is at the heart of the country’s sugar industry, and KwaZulu-Natal remains one of the leading agricultural provinces. The sugar sector contributes approximately R24 billion to South Africa’s economy, with nearly R19 billion generated within KZN alone.

The department said the potential implications of this development are therefore profound. Thousands of direct and indirect jobs, small-scale and commercial sugarcane growers, service providers, and entire communities could be affected should instability in this value chain persist.

“KwaZulu-Natal is largely an agricultural province with a diversified industrial base, and the sugar industry is deeply embedded in our rural economy. Tongaat Hulett has long been a backbone of this sector. Any disruption of this scale carries serious consequences for workers, small-scale growers, and households across our districts,” said Zondi.

The MEC further indicated that he will apprise the KZN Premier, Thamsanqa Ntuli, as the leader of the affected province, to ensure a coordinated provincial response.

“In addition, engagement will be undertaken with Minister Parks Tau in his capacity as Minister responsible for Trade, Industry, and Competition, to explore all available avenues to safeguard jobs, stabilise the industry, and support affected communities,” he said.

The South African Farmers Development Association (SAFDA) said it is engaging with government, industry, and sector leaders to explore options and solutions.

SAFDA’s Executive Chairman, Dr Siyabonga Madlala, assured growers that urgent discussions are currently underway with the relevant ministers and key stakeholders to explore all possible interventions to prevent adverse outcomes that may result if the provisional liquidation process reaches a point of no return.

“Provisional liquidation places the company, the sugar industry, and, more importantly, our farmers under great uncertainty. Of the total 25,653 small-scale farmers in the sugar industry, about 60% of these farmers (15,446) are found in the THL catchment, supplying sugarcane to their three sugar mills located in three towns: Tongaat (Maidstone Mill), Gingindlovu (Amatigulu Mill), and Empangeni (Felixton Mill).

“What is at stake are the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in particular, who delivered more than 1 million tons of sugarcane in the season ending on 31 March 2026, generating for themselves a revenue totalling about R845,720,000, benefiting households, local enterprises, and farm workers,” he said.

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