Tongaat Hulett's appeal of levies to the detriment of sugarcane growers – SA Canegrowers
Sugar producer Tongaat Hulett's business rescue practitioners said they had been granted the right to appeal a December 2023 decision by the Durban High Court that the company had to pay R526-million in outstanding levies to the sugar industry.
The overdue payment of these obligations threatens the livelihoods of many in the sugar industry. Further delays in the payment will be to the detriment of thousands of growers and the rural economies of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal that the sugarcane industry sustains, industry organisation the South African Cane Growers Association (SA Canegrowers) said on August 2.
“SA Canegrowers had hoped the new owners of Tongaat Hulett, the Vision Consortium, would have honoured the outstanding levies and put the matter to rest,” said SA Canegrowers chairperson Higgins Mdluli.
The levies form part of the obligations under legislation, which is legally binding on all members of the industry and serves to ensure that growers, millers and refiners each receive equitable treatment under the law.
In 2023, the Durban High Court confirmed that the legally binding Sugar Industry Agreement must be honoured and that the Companies Act did not override the industry legislation.
The case would now be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal, SA Canegrowers said.
The sugar industry includes 24 000 small-scale farmers and 1 200 commercial farmers and a large downstream economy, and supports the livelihoods of one-million people in South Africa.
The industry is already facing other threats, including dampening demand for local sugar owing to the Health Promotion Levy, or sugar tax, and cheap sugar imports, the organisation said.
Comments
Research Reports
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Goodwin Submersible Pumps Africa is sole distributors for Goodwin electrically driven, submersible, abrasion resistance slurry pumps.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Education: Consulting with member companies to obtain the optimal benefits from their B-BBEE spending, skills resources as well as B-BBEE points
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
