SOUTH African businessman Robert Gumede is close to a deal that could save sugar producer Tongaat Hulett from liquidation, days before a court hearing set to decide the company’s fate.
Gumede’s Vision Group and the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation have reached broad agreement on a transaction to end Tongaat’s prolonged business rescue process, Bloomberg reported on June 14.
Under the proposed deal, the IDC would take a 40% stake in Tongaat’s South African sugar operations in exchange for continued financial support. Vision Group would retain majority control as the company’s dominant creditor.
If finalised, the agreement would be a breakthrough for one of South Africa’s oldest agricultural firms.
The Durban High Court will hear a liquidation application on June 17 and 18 before Judge Rithy Singh. The hearing was postponed in April after the IDC provided R200 million in emergency funding to open Tongaat’s mills for the 2026-27 crushing season.
That package raised the IDC’s total exposure to Tongaat to about R2.5 billion.
The liquidation application followed the collapse of Tongaat’s business rescue process earlier this year.
Vision became the central player in May 2025 after buying the claims and security rights of Tongaat’s banking creditors. It reportedly paid about R3.2 billion for debt with a face value of roughly R9 billion, making Vision the controlling creditor.
Rescue efforts stalled in February 2026 when agreements between Vision and Tongaat’s business rescue practitioners expired. Vision then demanded immediate repayment of about R11.7 billion, triggering the provisional liquidation process.
Gumede has defended Vision’s role, saying the group is committed to saving jobs and supporting rural communities dependent on the sugar industry.
He previously told Bloomberg that Vision shareholders committed about R4 billion to the rescue, including an initial R1.6 billion deposit and a further R2 billion payment in 2025.
“It’s most unfortunate that the Vision business-rescue plan has been allowed to fail,” Gumede said, adding that his company remained determined to save Tongaat’s South African operations.
About 18,000 sugarcane growers rely on Tongaat’s milling infrastructure. Industry leaders warn liquidation could leave many farmers without alternatives, disrupting rural economies in KwaZulu-Natal.
Vision has also proposed diversifying Tongaat beyond sugar, including converting milling assets into renewable energy facilities to generate electricity.
The sugar sector faces pressure from rising imports. South African Sugar Association figures show deep-sea sugar imports rose from 25,000 tonnes in 2023-24 to more than 213,000 tonnes in 2025-26, with 300,000 tonnes expected this season.
Founded in 1892, Tongaat Hulett was once one of Africa’s leading sugar producers, with operations in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana.
Its crisis began in 2022 after a R12 billion accounting scandal involving former executives destroyed shareholder value and triggered a financial collapse.
The upcoming hearing will determine whether the Vision-IDC agreement is advanced enough to halt liquidation. If the deal succeeds, it could secure Tongaat’s future. If it fails, it could end a 134-year-old company and reshape the regional sugar industry.
