Tongaat Feels Harare Pressure

The indigenisation law was first promulgated in 2007 and has already seen big South African companies such as Impala Platinum, Aquarius Platinum and PPC agree to cede majority shares to local groups.

Tongaat may lose its land in Zimbabwe if it fails to comply with the policy. The Zimbabwe government last week said it was taking nearly 28,000ha of land belonging to Impala Platinum’s Zimbabwean unit, Zimplats. But Implats CEO Terrence Goodlace said last week that the company had not yet been informed of this decision.

Kasukuwere said in an interview that Tongaat should have complied with the law by now. He said President Robert Mugabe was launching the Masvingo Community Share Ownership Scheme on Friday.

“We expect that they should have complied by now. They should comply with the laws of this country,” Kasukuwere told BDLIve.

Tongaat’s Zimbabwe operations, Triangle Sugar and Hippo Valley, fall under Masvingo province and it is expected that companies from the province will contribute money to the Masvingo scheme.

Tongaat controls Triangle Sugar and more than 50% of Hippo Valley Estates. The Zimbabwe units contributed 19% to Tongaat’s total interim revenue and 32% to operating profit in the half-year period to end-September.

Concerns that Tongaat may lose its land leases in Zimbabwe for its alleged reluctance to comply with the law have led to the suppressed performance of Hippo Valley’s stock on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.BDLive