By Patience Gondo
TONGATT Hulett Limited has applied for provisional liquidation in South Africa, but its Zimbabwean subsidiaries, including Hippo Valley Estates Ltd and Triangle Ltd, say their operations remain financially stable and unaffected moving swiftly to reassure farmers, workers and industry stakeholders.
In a press release issued Thursday, Tongaat Hulett said its joint Business Rescue Practitioners had approached the High Court of South Africa seeking an order to discontinue business rescue proceedings and place the South African parent company into provisional liquidation.
The company said the move follows the collapse of a planned rescue transaction.
The joint Business Rescue Practitioners of Tongaat Hulett Limited (THL) have applied to the High Court of South Africa for an order discontinuing the company’s business rescue proceedings and placing THL (South African operations) into provisional liquidation,” the company said.
Tongaat Hulett said the application came after the proposed sale agreements with Vision Sugar lapsed, making the rescue plan no longer viable.
However, the company said the liquidation application applies strictly to its South African business and does not extend to its Zimbabwean operations, which are structured independently.
“We recognise that news of Tongaat Hulett Limited’s liquidation in South Africa may cause concern about our operations here in Zimbabwe. We want to provide clarity and assurance,” the company said.
It said Hippo Valley Estates and Triangle Limited operate as separate legal entities, insulated from the financial processes affecting the parent company.
“The developments in South Africa do not involve our Zimbabwean operations, which function as independent legal entities with separate management, finances, and operations,” Tongaat Hulett said.
The company further said stakeholders of Zimbabwe’s sugar production and contractual commitments remain secure.
“Triangle Ltd and Hippo Valley Estates Ltd remain financially robust, operationally sound, and fully committed to all contractual obligations. Production continues normally, and we reaffirm our commitment to Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector and communities,” the statement said.
The reassurance is significant for Zimbabwe’s Lowveld region, where the two companies anchor the country’s sugar industry and support thousands of jobs, outgrower farmers and downstream industries. Hippo Valley Estates and Triangle Limited are central to national sugar supply and export earnings, making their stability critical to the agricultural economy.
Tongaat Hulett, which has operated in southern Africa for over a century, entered business rescue in South Africa in 2022 after facing severe financial distress linked to unsustainable debt and governance challenges.
The business rescue process was intended to restructure the company and secure new investment, but the failure of the Vision Sugar transaction effectively ended that pathway.
Despite the parent company’s ongoing legal and financial proceedings in South Africa, the Zimbabwean subsidiaries’ operational independence and financial strength have positioned them to continue functioning without disruption.
The company said it would continue monitoring developments and providing updates, while maintaining full production and honoring its obligations to workers, growers and business partners in Zimbabwe.