14,600 jobs on the line in sugar industry: Canegrowers Association

The jobs of an estimated 14,642 permanent and seasonal farm workers are at risk after Tongaat Hulett, which is in business rescue, missed a R400m payment due to sugar cane growers.

This is according to the SA Canegrowers Association, which said it will meet the business rescue practitioners on Wednesday. Growers of sugar cane had expected payment for consignments delivered to mills in September.

The association said the company's decision to enter into voluntary business rescue “has placed the entire sugar industry and the jobs it sustains in a perilous position with thousands of jobs and livelihoods hanging in the balance”.

Apart from farm workers, the impact is also expected to be felt by contractors, haulier companies, input suppliers, mill workers and other service providers.

“The number of jobs at risk is likely to increase as uncertainty rises about whether growers who delivered cane in October will be paid on time,” it said.

An estimated R345m will become due for payment at the end of November to cover these deliveries, the association said.

“The impact is far-reaching and will be devastating.

“Affected communities will include the rural areas of Empangeni, Eshowe, Gingindlovu, Amatikulu, Darnall, KwaDukuza, Shakaskraal, Tongaat, Ndwedwe, Isinembe, Nyoni, Entumeni, Kwambonambi, Nseleni, Melmoth, and Heatonville, Jozini and the Makhathini Flats, which already suffer from high levels of unemployment and poverty.”

The association said the industry can recover if Tongaat Hulett secures funding to maintain its operations.

“SA Canegrowers is committed to working with [stakeholders] to ensure that we can reverse the crisis and mitigate the impact on the workers and the rural economies that rely on the sugar industry for their livelihoods. This will be the focus of [Wednesday's] meeting.”

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