King Misuzulu kaZwelethini Meets With Bilionaire Robert Gumede To Save Tongaat Hulett
- Zulu King Misuzulu met with billionaire Robert Gumede to discuss how Tongaat Hulett can be saved
- Vision Group acquired the company’s multibillion rand debt, as over 15,000 farmers stood to be affected by the company’s liquidation
- Gumede discussed Vision Group’s vision for the company and how it plans to create employment, and South Africans weighed in
Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, analysed policy changes and economic development at Vutivi Business News for three years.
Source: Twitter
TONGAAT, KWAZULU-NATAL — Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelethini met with billionaire Robert Gumede to discuss how Tongaat Hulett, which faces liquidation after business rescue failed, can be saved. He outlined his vision for the company.
Journalist Sihle Mavuso posted a video of the meeting on his @ZANewsFlash X account on 25 February 2026. He did not indicate when the meeting took place. The Zulu Prime Minister Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, who is also the province’s MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and the Zulu Royal Chancellor, Inkosi Malusi Zondi, attended the meeting.
Gumede discusses saving Tongaat Hulett
Addressing King Misuzulu, Gumede proposed that the Royal Family should also be part and parcel of the shareholders. He added that without the workers, farmers, and the land, the factories and sugar refineries mean nothing.
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Gumede added that Vision Group wants to change the company and generate electricity to sell to Eskom and ethanol for vehicle fuel. He remarked that this vision is intended to save the company and provide jobs to the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
View the video on X here:
A look at Tongaat-Hulett and Vision
Vision Group acquired Tongaat’s R8 billion debt in January 2024 through a partial debt-for-equity swap arrangement. Tongaat Hulett’s business rescue practitioners declared that creditors endorsed the business rescue plan Vision Group proposed.
Source: Twitter
The Business Rescue Practitioners moved to liquidate the business, which would affect over 15,000 sugarcane farmers. The South African Farmers' Development Association (SAFDA) warned that the collapse of the company places small-scale growers at greatest risk, as they were expected to deliver more than one million tons of sugarcane in the season.
South Africans side-eyed intervention efforts
Netizens commenting on X had questions about Gumede’s efforts.
Musa asked:
“Why save it? Why not start a new entity and buy the liquidated assets? Reading the Tongaat article on Amabhungane left a lot of questions.”
Nonkululeko asked:
“Wasn’t he trying to buy another sugar factory in another African country a few years ago?”
Sakrili said:
“The level of corruption that is being plotted here will need to be studied at Unisa! The government needs to cut all these vultures that take over companies and expropriate without any compensation.”
Duke of the West pointed out:
“Crime scene.”
Blooming Flower said:
“Mancinza is woke. Great move to facilitate this meeting.”
South African farmers fight to save Tongaat Hulett
In a related article, Briefly News reported that the South African Farmers’ Development Association (SAFDA) vowed to do all it could to prevent Tongaat Hulett from closing after business rescue failed. This was after the company filed for liquidation in February 2026.
SAFDA called for calm and warned that a full closure would negatively affect rural communities. SAFDA also pointed out that the company’s shutdown could leave about 25,000 people unemployed.
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Source: Briefly News
