Speaking to Channel Africa on Monday, Andrew Russell, Vice Chairperson of the association, said the situation represents both a financial and social crisis for the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga’s rural economies.
Tongaat Hulett operates three sugar mills and a refinery and processes sugarcane for about 18 000 growers, the majority of them small‑scale farmers who rely almost exclusively on cane for their livelihoods. Russell said the company’s collapse would have severe consequences because growers have no alternative crops that can sustain comparable income or economic participation.
He noted that government has acknowledged the severity of the crisis and indicated support for ensuring Tongaat Hulett’s milling and refining operations remain active. “This is not only a financial disaster, but a social disaster in the making. It is essential that these mills remain operational and that they do so without interruption,” Russell said.
However, he warned that Tongaat Hulett’s difficulties reflect deeper structural problems across the sector. Chief among these is a surge of subsidised sugar imports, which displaced more than 163 000 tonnes of locally produced sugar between April and December 2025. Local producers, he said, cannot compete with foreign‑subsidised sugar on the world market, resulting in falling grower revenues and declining profitability across all mills.
Russell called for urgent action on tariff protection, saying the current import tariff has not been properly implemented and is overdue for review. The last adjustment took place in 2018 despite substantial increases in production costs since then. He stressed that cheap imports do not benefit consumers because the price advantage is retained by importers, often foreign‑owned entities.
He also criticised the Health Promotion Levy, or sugar tax, introduced in 2018, which he said cost the industry $120 million and more than 16 000 jobs in its first year. “There is no evidence that the levy has reduced non‑communicable diseases, yet the cost to growers and millers has been devastating,” he added.
Russell urged government to act swiftly to safeguard more than one million livelihoods tied to the sugar industry.
–ChannelAfrica–
