South African businessman Robert Gumede appears to be on the verge of securing a deal that could save struggling sugar giant Tongaat Hulett from liquidation, just days before a crucial court hearing that will determine the company’s future.
According to a Bloomberg report published on June 14, Gumede’s Vision Group and the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) have reached broad agreement on a transaction that could bring an end to the company’s prolonged business rescue saga.
The proposed arrangement would see the IDC acquire a 40 percent stake in Tongaat Hulett’s South African sugar operations in exchange for continued financial backing, while Vision Group would retain majority control through its position as the company’s dominant creditor.
If finalised, the agreement would mark a major breakthrough in efforts to rescue one of South Africa’s oldest and most important agricultural businesses.
The deal comes ahead of a critical liquidation hearing scheduled for June 17 and 18 in the Durban High Court before Judge Rithy Singh.
The court proceedings were postponed in April after the IDC provided an emergency R200 million funding package that allowed Tongaat’s mills to open for the 2026-27 crushing season.
That intervention increased the IDC’s total exposure to the company to approximately R2.5 billion.
The liquidation application stems from the collapse of Tongaat’s business rescue process earlier this year.
Vision Group became the central player in the rescue effort in May 2025 after acquiring the claims and security rights of Tongaat’s banking creditors.
The company reportedly paid around R3.2 billion for debt with a face value of roughly R9 billion, effectively making Vision the controlling creditor.
However, efforts to implement a rescue plan unravelled in February 2026 when agreements between Vision and Tongaat’s business rescue practitioners expired.
Vision subsequently demanded immediate repayment of approximately R11.7 billion, triggering the provisional liquidation process and intensifying concerns over the future of the 134-year-old company.
Gumede has repeatedly defended his company’s role in the rescue effort, arguing that Vision remains committed to preserving jobs, protecting investment and supporting rural communities dependent on the sugar industry.
He previously told Bloomberg that Vision shareholders had committed about R4 billion to the rescue initiative, including an initial R1.6 billion deposit and a further R2 billion payment made in 2025.
“It’s most unfortunate that the Vision business-rescue plan has been allowed to fail,” Gumede said at the time, while maintaining that his company remained determined to save Tongaat’s South African operations.
The stakes are particularly high for KwaZulu-Natal’s agricultural sector.
An estimated 18,000 sugarcane growers depend on Tongaat’s milling infrastructure to process their crops. Industry leaders have warned that liquidation could leave many farmers without viable alternatives, creating significant economic disruption across rural communities.
Vision has also outlined plans to diversify Tongaat beyond traditional sugar production.
Among the proposals under consideration is the transformation of the company’s milling assets into renewable energy facilities capable of generating electricity, creating additional revenue streams as the sugar industry faces mounting challenges.
The sector has been hit hard by a surge in imported sugar, particularly from Brazil.
Figures from the South African Sugar Association show deep-sea sugar imports climbed from 25,000 tonnes during the 2023-24 season to more than 213,000 tonnes in 2025-26, with imports expected to reach 300,000 tonnes in the current season.
Founded in 1892, Tongaat Hulett was once regarded as one of Africa’s leading sugar producers, with operations extending into Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana.
The company’s troubles began in 2022 after the discovery of a massive accounting scandal involving former executives. The fraud, estimated at R12 billion, destroyed shareholder value and plunged the company into a financial crisis from which it has yet to recover.
The upcoming court hearing is expected to determine whether the reported Vision-IDC agreement is sufficiently advanced to persuade the court to halt liquidation proceedings.
Should the deal succeed, it could secure the future of one of South Africa’s most historic agricultural businesses. Failure, however, could bring an end to a company that has operated for more than a century and reshape the sugar industry across the region.
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