Thousands Of Zimbabwean Jobs At Risk As Tongaat Hulett’s Business Rescue Plan Collapses

Tongaat Hulett Limited, the South African parent of Zimbabwe’s Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe, has applied for provisional liquidation after its business rescue plan collapsed.

However, the company said operations in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana would continue as normal.

The move is being closely watched in Zimbabwe, where Tongaat Hulett’s Hippo Valley and Triangle estates in the Lowveld are major sugar producers, employing nearly 20,000 workers.

In a notice to shareholders and affected parties on 12 February 2026, the company said its Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) had concluded there was no longer a reasonable chance of saving the business.

The decision follows the expiry of key sale agreements that formed the basis of the approved rescue plan.

Tongaat Hulett was placed under business rescue on 27 October 2022. A plan proposed by Vision was approved by creditors on 11 January 2024.

The plan originally intended for Vision to take over the historic lender group’s claims and either turn the debt into shares or, if that failed, sell some of the company’s assets.

After shareholders rejected the debt-to-equity conversion, the plan shifted to a series of sale agreements under which Vision would acquire the company’s operating assets and regional investments, while stabilising and funding the business.

However, the plan depended on several non-negotiable conditions, including refinancing a R2.3 billion funding facility from the Industrial Development Corporation, funding a R517 million escrow account linked to the South African Sugar Association, and providing R75 million for concurrent creditors.

The BRPs said the sale agreements have now lapsed after Vision declined to extend them, making the business rescue plan impossible to implement.

In line with section 141(2)(a) of South Africa’s Companies Act, the BRPs filed an application for provisional liquidation on 12 February 2026.

The development leaves thousands of employees, along with growers, suppliers, customers and creditors, facing uncertainty over the company’s future.