Tongaat Hulett has filed for provisional liquidation following a disastrous R12-billion collapse, as efforts to secure funding and negotiate with the Vision consortium falter. (Photo: iStock) 
The struggle to save Tongaat Hulett Limited has reached a terminal point. According to a media release issued by the company’s joint business rescue practitioners, they have applied to the KwaZulu-Natal division of the High Court for an order to discontinue rescue proceedings and place the sugar producer into provisional liquidation.
The move comes exactly a week after the business rescue practitioners launched a final legal salvo on Thursday, 5 February 2026, seeking leave to appeal a December 2025 Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling regarding the status of industry levies to the South African Sugar Association.
On Monday, 9 February, Tongaat Hulett Limited told Daily Maverick that its business rescue plan did provide for the payment of the SA Sugar Association levies, but only once the transaction closed.
“The filing of the application for leave should in no way be construed as a withdrawal from any commercial engagements.”
The company also confirmed to Daily Maverick on Monday that the continued litigation would have no impact on the timeline for finalising the transaction with the Vision Group or refinancing negotiations with the Industrial Development Corporation.
Read more: Legal battles complicate Tongaat Hulett’s rescue as statutory obligations loom large
According to the business rescue practitioners, the decision to liquidate follows the “lapsing of the sale agreements with Vision”, which officially lapsed on 7 February 2025, rendering the approved business rescue plan “no longer implementable”.
A legacy of failure
Tongaat Hulett originally entered business rescue in October 2022. The business rescue practitioners stated this was the result of “severe historic accounting irregularities, financial misstatements and governance failures” under previous management that destroyed approximately R12-billion in shareholder value.
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The rescue plan, approved by creditors in January 2024, relied on the Vision consortium acquiring the company’s assets. However, the business rescue practitioners said in their report that the deal was contingent on three “critical conditions”, including the refinancing of a R2.3-billion facility from the Industrial Development Corporation and the funding of a R517-million escrow account for the SA Sugar Association.
Daily Maverick had already approached SA Sugar Association on Friday, 6 February, relating to inquiries about Tongaat Hulett Limited’s appeal application. Despite repeated follow-ups on Tuesday, 10 February and Wednesday, 11 February, the SA Sugar Association had not responded to Daily Maverick by the time of publication.
The Vision collapses
The collapse of the deal appears to stem from a standoff between the Vision Group and the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation.
The practitioners stated in their release that “Vision and the Industrial Development Corporation were unable to conclude binding funding arrangements” and noted that “Vision introduced new demands and conditions that were never contemplated in, nor capable of accommodation, under the adopted business rescue plan”.
Read more: Sticky delays keep sugar giant Tongaat Hulett in limbo
When the practitioners requested a short extension to save the deal, Vision reportedly agreed only on terms that were deemed too risky. The practitioners said they determined that these conditions were unacceptable as their fulfilment would have “exposed Tongaat Hulett Limited to significant commercial risk, and potentially placed Tongaat Hulett in breach of its contractual undertakings to third parties”.
The situation turned dire on 7 February 2026 when the sale agreements officially lapsed. The business rescue practitioners noted that the company had received a letter of demand from Vision for “approximately R11.7-billion, stated to be immediately due and payable”.
Timeline of Tongaat Hulett’s business rescue process
27 October 2022 – Tongaat Hulett enters voluntary business rescue due to severe financial distress and debt.
November 2022 – Business rescue practitioners request legal extensions to publish the formal rescue plan.
9 January 2024 – RGS Holdings withdraws its bid, leaving the Vision consortium as the sole remaining option.
11 January 2024 – Creditors approve the Vision plan, involving asset acquisition and debt assumption.
2024-2025 – Implementation is hampered by legal hurdles, missed funding deadlines and operational delays.
19 February 2025 – The high court dismisses RGS’ attempt to block the Vision-led plan.
June 2025 – Gavin Dalgleish is appointed CEO to oversee the final rescue transition.
December 2025 – The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that Tongaat cannot suspend statutory sugar industry levies during business rescue, adding financial pressure.
Early February 2026 – Vision and the Industrial Development Corporation fail to reach a funding agreement; the sale agreement lapses.
5 February 2026 - BRPs announce they will appeal the SCA levy ruling at the Constitutional Court.
12 February 2026 - Business rescue practitioners file for provisional liquidation following the collapse of funding negotiations.
A ‘death knell’ for the industry
The announcement has sent shockwaves through the sector. In a media statement, SA Canegrowers warned that the liquidation of Tongaat Hulett was a “profound risk to the entire SA sugar sector and the million livelihoods that it supports”.
The organisation highlighted that if an unfunded liquidation proceeded, growers supplying Tongaat’s three mills would face immediate non-payment for cane and levies. Because sugarcane must be milled shortly after harvest to remain viable, the cessation of operations would leave vast amounts of this season’s crop to rot in the fields.
“If this operational continuity is not secured, the consequences will extend far beyond one company. The entire SA sugar value chain, starting with growers and flowing through to workers, transporters and downstream industries, will be severely destabilised,” said Dr Thomas Funke, CEO of SA Canegrowers.
Higgins Mdluli, the chairperson of SA Canegrowers, emphasised that the fallout would be widespread, affecting all of South Africa’s 27,000 small-scale and 1,100 large-scale growers.
“In such a fragile environment, the loss of three of SA’s 12 remaining sugar mills would be a death knell for the industry,” said Mdluli.
Market pressure and legal dead ends
Faced with this massive claim and no equity partner, the rescuers concluded that there were no other options.
“In the considered view of the business rescue practitioners, and based on objective grounds, there is no longer a reasonable prospect of implementing the adopted business rescue plan or rescuing Tongaat as a going concern,” the practitioners stated in the release.
The liquidation application relates only to Tongaat Hulett Limited in SA. The company’s operations in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana “continue to trade and operate in the ordinary course”. DM