Trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau said his department believed that embattled Tongaat Hulett could successfully be stabilised and restructured without putting the company through liquidation.
The statement comes as the sugar milling and refining company languishes under the spectre of collapse due to the surge of cheap sugar imports flooding the local market in the order of about 163,000 tonnes.
“The DTIC, together with other organs of state, will oppose the liquidation of Tongaat Hulett and will continue to support all lawful efforts aimed at finding a viable and durable resolution,” the minister said in a statement on Friday.
On Tuesday, Tau initiated the amendment of the constitution of the South Africa Sugar Association to allow it the power to determine the local market’s sugar requirements, carry-on stocks and annual export quantities.
The business rescue practitioners approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court to apply for provisional liquidation earlier this month.
The company has filed for provisional liquidation after the lapse of the sale agreement with Vision Sugar and the failure to agree on funding arrangements with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
Tau said the government will continue engaging the IDC, labour, growers, financiers, investors and affected communities to explore solutions that ensure the survival of the company and the long-term sustainability of the sugar sector.
“These engagements are guided by the government’s broader policy objectives of protecting jobs and livelihoods, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas, safeguarding small-scale and emerging farmers who depend on the sugar value chain, preserving industrial and agricultural capacity critical to food security and regional economies, and ensuring accountability, transparency and good governance in all processes.”
SA Canegrowers said in a statement that the situation at Tongaat Hulett remained fluid and everything possible was being done to ensure the continued operation of the company, in whatever form that ultimately takes.
“The sale of Tongaat Hulett’s South African business to Vision reached a critical point last week when funding negotiations involving the IDC were unable to conclude successfully. As a result, the sale agreement lapsed over the weekend.
“This does not mean that Vision is no longer a willing buyer, but that a critical deadline in the business rescue process has been missed. As a result, the business rescue practitioners [BRPs], needing to act on the certainty of a valid agreement with a willing buyer, prepared to file for provisional liquidation in February.”
The statement said the critical importance of the continuation of Tongaat Hulett’s operations to the local sugar industry — both economically and socially — meant that high-level interventions began immediately to avoid possible liquidation.
“The government, including the department of trade, industry and competition are now directly involved. There is a clear understanding that the consequences of failure would extend far beyond a single company.
“As of now, the filing for liquidation has been withheld to allow space for these urgent engagements to continue. It is important for growers to understand several key realities. First, there is no intention from any party — including the BRPs, creditors, the government, or industry bodies — to see the business simply shut its doors and walk away.”
The statement said Tongaat Hulett informed SA Canegrowers that it currently has sufficient cash to operate through to the start of the upcoming season, and it is not a business that has collapsed operationally.
The South African Farmers Development Association (Safda) said in a statement it hoped the business rescue process would turn around the fortunes of the company.
“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 [or 15,446] are found in the Tongaat Hulett catchment, supplying sugarcane to their three sugar mills located in Tongaat, Gingindlovu and Empangeni.”
Safda said more than 1-million tonnes of sugarcane in the season ending on March 31,2026 were at stake, generating revenue totalling about R845.7m, benefiting households, local enterprises and farm workers.
“The impact is amplified when one adds the commercial farmers’ contribution to these numbers. Commercial farmers produce 80% of the total industry sugarcane crop. THL itself is a significant market player, accounting for 27% of the total sugar production in the sugar industry.”
Sugar imports up to December 2025 stood at 163,000 tonnes, a 155% increase from the same period in the 2024/25 season, the statement said. The impact is compounded by the Health Promotion Levy, rising costs of production, and US tariffs, which threaten access to premium export markets, Safda warned.
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