The challenges facing the South African sugar industry have received significant coverage over the past few years, with over one-million South Africans reliant on the sugar industry and its value chain.

Sugar manufacturer Tongaat Hulett is committed to helping secure the local sugar industry’s long-term success.

In the 2021/22 season, milling operations were negatively impacted by the numerous breakdowns at all three raw sugar mills. This was a result of Covid-19 restrictions interrupting maintenance before the start of the season, the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal during July last year and the challenges experienced in processing sugarcane that had been subject to the unrest-related arson.

Tongaat Hulett has taken decisive steps to address these challenges, with its yearly maintenance shutdown proceeding well. Focus was put on addressing all the major issues that affected milling performance from a miller’s point of view.

This offcrop included a focus on planning and extensive oversight on the execution of the maintenance work. Another key focus in securing the future of Tongaat Hulett is ensuring that its employees have the right skills and capacity to ensure that the milling season is successful.

The focus on training and development spans across the various levels of the organisation. Some of the programmes include engineer-in-training (EIT), operator training and supervisory, management and leadership development though Tongaat Hulett’s accredited management development and supervisory development programmes.

Earlier this year, Tongaat Hulett Sugar South Africa rolled out refresher training for all sugar milling operators in Process and Boilers. The seven-day Sugar Process Refresher Training took place at each of Tongaat’s three South African mills, training about 270 operators in preparation for the upcoming milling season.

As part of Tongaat’s focus on continuous improvement, this training aimed to upskill all operators to improve production efficiency and performance and was facilitated by subject matter experts.

In addition to operator-specific training, the programme included information on the sugar industry, global sugar trends, the sugar production process and insights on the supply chain. In addition, the process provided an opportunity for operator feedback on key challenges and areas for improvement.

“Investing in our people is essential for us to have a successful business and a sustainable future. We look forward to working together with our teams at each site and our supplying growers to ensure a successful upcoming season,” Tongaat Hulett Sugar South Africa MD Dave Howells concludes.