Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe To Lay Off 1,000 Workers
Sugar producer Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe plans to lay off 1,000 workers by August this year as part of a cost-cutting strategy to navigate the country’s currency instability and inflationary pressures.
As one of Zimbabwe’s largest employers, Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe currently has a workforce of 16,000.
The company operates two sugar mills in the country, with a combined capacity to crush 3.5 million tons of sugarcane annually.
However, the company has been grappling with rising labour and fertiliser costs, as well as losses from the country’s volatile currency.
Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe spokesperson Dahlia Garwe told Reuters that the layoffs will be carried out in three phases, with 500 employees from each of the company’s mills in Hippo Valley and Triangle being affected between February and August. Said Garwe:
It is very difficult to manage such a large workforce, so we need to look at ways and means of becoming a lot more efficient in how we do our business.
The company reported that its profit margins have dropped by 55% since 2022, while labour costs have surged by 113%, leaving the sugar producer burdened with huge debts. Said Garwe:
It is part of a strategy to bring our costs under control and put the company on an even path.
Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe has said its “unprecedented operational challenges” are unrelated to the ongoing business rescue process at its South African parent company.
In October 2022, Tongaat Hulett’s South African operations entered business rescue proceedings following an accounting fraud scandal.
As part of the business rescue plan, Tongaat Hulett is in the process of selling its Zimbabwean assets—comprising the wholly owned Triangle Sugar Estates and a 50.3% stake in Hippo Valley Estates—to a Mauritius-registered investment company.
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