More than 400 jobs are set to be saved and local farmers given renewed hope after a Kenyan-based company injected a substantial investment into Gledhow Mill, KwaDukuza, following its recent business rescue.
The mill entered business rescue in March 2023 due to severe financial distress, driven by mounting debt, rising production costs, and challenges in the local sugar industry, including the impact of the 2021 unrest and 2022 floods.
Chairperson of the Gledhow board, Pierre de Villiers Berrange, said the investment by the Kenya-based Chatthe Group had been critical in stabilising the mill.
“Gledhow was rescued some 18 months ago. Since then, the Chatthe Group has come into South Africa; they are mainly based in Kenya. They have invested a substantial amount of money in the Gledhow Mill. As a consequence, thousands of people who rely on the salaries earned by our 400 employees will be given an opportunity to continue with their livelihoods and their lifestyles they have been accustomed to in the past,” he said.
The mill currently employs about 400 permanent workers and has added between 200 and 220 project-based employees from the local community as part of its expansion and preparations for the reopening of the sugarcane crushing season in May.
“No one has lost a job in this business throughout the business rescue process. Our 400 employees will remain. And with the expansion project nearing full completion towards the end of the year, there will most probably be additional opportunities, but it is too early to tell at the moment,” said general manager Dawid Louw.
He said the mill was ready to resume operations.
“The mill will start crushing cane from next week while the expansion continues. We are probably reaching full completion. I would say 70/75, if not pushing 80%. As you saw during the factory visit, we don’t need everything for the startup next week when we start crushing cane,” he said.
Louw added that the mill was also working towards reducing its environmental impact.
“We aim to reduce our coal usage significantly by July, more or less,” he said.
The reopening has brought relief to small-scale farmers and the SA Farmers Development Association, who had faced uncertainty about whether their crops would be processed this season.
“Today we are very happy because we have got an assurance from the Industrial Development Corporation that they are going to fund mills to operate. Although there will be a delay in opening the mill, it is good that it will open; then we will have our cane harvested this season. We are very happy that our harvest has a place where it will be crushed. We were uncertain a couple of months ago, but today the government has come to a solution,” said Nkosinathi Msweli, a sugarcane farmer who also represents the South African Farmers Development Association.
Deputy minister of trade, industry and competition, Zuko Godlimpi, said government is committed to supporting the sector.
“I have met with the leadership at Tongaat Hulett and now with Gledhow. What we can say is one message: that the sugarcane industry in KwaZulu-Natal is not going to die. As government, we will assist with everything we have so that people will have jobs and continue producing cane in KZN,” he said.
Gledhow’s financial challenges were further compounded by a legal dispute over unpaid industry levies.
Alongside Tongaat Hulett, the mill was involved in a court case after failing to pay levies to the SA Sugar Association.
In December 2023, the Durban high court ruled that the R1.5bn in industry fees could not be treated as ordinary debt and had to be paid, placing additional strain on the sector and small-scale growers.
Despite being part of the legal proceedings, Gledhow indicated it was seeking to resolve the matter through negotiation rather than litigation and continues to operate under business rescue while addressing these obligations.
TimesLIVE
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