KwaZulu-Natal Business 2023-24

OVERVIEW
Agriculture
Training is embracing new technology.
A
group of young black female farmers are in the process of
completing a three-year incubator programme which will
equip them with the skills to compete in the marketplace
and expand their businesses.
The Momentum Metropolitan’s Women in Farming programme
offers training in mental wellness and analysis, poultry and vegetable
farming, soil fertility and plant nutrition. At the end of the programme,
graduates are invited to become part of the Pietermaritzburg Agri
network, qualifying as contracted traders while receiving exposure
to new market access opportunities.
The province’s two agricultural colleges, Cedara and Owen
Sitole, are to become the sites of digital transformation and new
technologies. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and
Rural Development (DARD) is investing in 4IR to improve agricultural
production and intends turning research stations into centres of
excellence. Cedara is in the Midlands and the Owen Sitole College of
Agriculture is near Empangeni.
In the 2023/24 financial year, 340 agricultural graduates will be
enrolled by DARD on farms where they will learn practical skills. Coaching
and mentorship underpin this programme, now in its third year.
Another DARD initiative is to promote food security through the
planting of seedlings. The target in 2023/24 is 10-million seedlings on
6 293ha, a project that will create 115 jobs for young people.
Sugar industry
Tongaat Hulett going into business rescue in 2020 was a major
shock, not only to the many businesses which rely on the sugar
producer in KwaZulu-Natal, but because the company has a long
history and has become one of the biggest corporate names in the
South African economy.
In 2022 seven former Tongaat Hulett senior executives appeared
in court on charges of fraud for allegedly backdating sales agreements
of the company’s property division to score better bonuses.
As a result of finding massive holes in the balance sheet, many
assets had to be sold, including Tambankulu Estates in Eswatini for
R375-million.
The business rescue practitioners (BRP), Metis Strategic Advisors,
managed to keep 2 500 employed at the company and invested
more than R400-million in off-crop capital maintenance between
December 2022 and April 2023.
SECTOR INSIGHT
Business rescue
practitioners believe in
Tongaat Hulett’s future.
At the end of May 2023,
the BRP produced a statement
which read, in part: “When
the business entered business
rescue in October 2022, the
operations were brought to
a standstill as there was no
free cash available to fund
operations or to settle creditors
or employees.
“A constant factor in our
minds in the execution of this
business rescue is the enormous
social impact of the businesses
under our care. It is beyond
question that the successful
rescue of especially THL’s sugar
operations in South Africa will
save tens of thousands, possibly
hundreds of thousands, of direct
and indirect jobs. We take this
responsibility very seriously
and are confident that Tongaat
Hulett has a future.”
In July 2023, Metis
announced that a Tanzanian
company, Kagera Sugar, was the
preferred buyer of Tongaat, a
decision that will be referred to
shareholders later in the year.
The sugar industry itself
faces many challenges, not
least the imposition of a
sugar tax and imports from
countries such as Brazil, India
and Thailand. Diversification is
vital for the future and power
KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2023/24
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