South African billionaire Robert Gumede’s takeover target Tongaat Hulett to quit the JSE

Tongaat Hulett Ltd., the sugar producer that South African billionaire Robert Gumede is buying, will be removed from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Nov. 3, ending a listing that began in 1952 and leaving its shareholders with nothing.

The JSE announced the delisting on Oct. 12, citing years of financial distress, a business rescue process that began in October 2022 and a trading suspension that has kept the shares frozen for more than four years. Tongaat's board and business rescue practitioners said they would not oppose the decision.

No offer will be made to shareholders and no payment will be made to them. Their shares will become unlisted certificates administered by Computershare, and the company said it expects "no value" to accrue to shareholders once the rescue is complete.

The delisting is the latest step in a rescue that is meant to end with Tongaat's businesses in the hands of Gumede's Vision consortium, which has spent more than two years trying to take control of South Africa's largest sugar miller. Tongaat remains under the control of its business rescue practitioners, and Billionaires.Africa found no announcement that the sale to Vision has been completed.

How Gumede won Tongaat

Gumede, who founded the technology company Gijima in 1995 and later expanded into mining, energy, infrastructure and agriculture through the Guma Group, built his position through Tongaat's debt. Vision bought about 11.7 billion rand, or roughly $710 million, of debt owed by Tongaat to 13 banks, making it the company's largest secured creditor.

Creditors approved Vision's rescue plan in January 2024 with 98.5% support. The plan's first option was a debt-for-equity swap that would have left existing shareholders with 2.7% of the company. Shareholders voted it down in August 2024, which triggered the fallback: a sale of Tongaat's businesses and assets to Vision.

That sale nearly collapsed. The agreements lapsed on Feb. 7, 2026, after Vision declined to grant an unconditional extension, and the rescue practitioners applied to have Tongaat placed in provisional liquidation. Gumede called the liquidation application a disappointing outcome and said Vision remained committed to the company's survival.

In June, the state-owned Industrial Development Corp. brokered a binding agreement with Vision, and the liquidation application was withdrawn. New sale agreements were drawn up for Tongaat's South African operations and its interests in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. The IDC, which provided 2.5 billion rand in funding during the rescue, is converting that money into equity. Gumede's Guma Group and the IDC are to hold 68% of the South African operations, Billionaires.Africa reported in July.

What Gumede is buying

Tongaat is the dominant player in South African sugar. It runs the country's only white sugar refinery, accounts for roughly 77% of sugar industry revenue in KwaZulu-Natal and has milling capacity of about 2 million tonnes. It is the only mill available to about 18,000 of South Africa's 28,000 cane growers, according to industry group SA Canegrowers.

Its collapse began in 2019, when an investigation found that former executives had inflated profits for years. The company wrote down about 12 billion rand, and the JSE suspended its shares in July 2022 after it failed to publish annual results.

Gumede has said he wants to turn Tongaat into more than a sugar company. He plans to burn bagasse, the fibre left after crushing cane, to generate electricity for the grid and for municipal buyers, to capture carbon dioxide for industrial and beverage use, and to produce ethanol for blending into petrol. He has described sugar as the "cherry on top" rather than the whole business.

Fights still ahead

The deal still faces hurdles. Rival bidder Terris Sugar is contesting how Vision's plan was chosen. In August, South Africa's Constitutional Court refused Tongaat leave to appeal in a dispute with the South African Sugar Association, which says it is owed about 517 million rand, or $32 million, in industry payments. The Zulu royal household has also demanded that Trade Minister Parks Tau explain the IDC transaction.

The delisting does not end the business rescue. Separate rescue proceedings for Tongaat Hulett Developments, Tongaat Hulett Sugar South Africa and Voermol Feeds will continue.