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JSE to delist Tongaat Hulett after 74 years as sugar giant’s financial troubles deepen
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has decided to delist Tongaat Hulett, bringing an end to the South African sugar producer’s 74-year history on the exchange after years of financial distress, accounting irregularities and a prolonged business rescue process.
The company’s shares are scheduled to be removed from the JSE Main Board from the commencement of business on 3 November 2026.
The decision marks another major setback for a company that was once a prominent name in South Africa’s agricultural and sugar industries, with operations and a long-standing economic footprint in KwaZulu-Natal.
The JSE announced the decision on 12 October, citing Tongaat Hulett’s prolonged suspension, continued failure to meet listing requirements and the absence of a realistic prospect of restoring compliance.
In its announcement, the exchange said it had considered “the extensive and ongoing non-compliance with the Requirements” and the company’s acknowledgement that no value was expected to accrue to shareholders.
Tongaat Hulett has not appealed the decision.
Why is Tongaat Hulett being delisted?
The company’s problems with the JSE began in July 2022, when its shares were suspended from trading after it failed to publish its annual financial results for the year ended 31 March 2022.
The suspension meant investors could no longer buy or sell the shares through the exchange.
Tongaat Hulett subsequently entered voluntary business rescue on 27 October 2022 as it struggled with severe financial difficulties.
Since then, it has failed to publish the outstanding audited financial statements and other financial information required of a listed company. The absence of reliable, auditable information has also made it difficult to establish a credible valuation for the business.
The company’s financial distress and continuing business rescue proceedings have left it unable to meet several important JSE listing obligations.
The JSE gave Tongaat Hulett an opportunity to explain why its listing should not be removed. However, the company acknowledged that it remained non-compliant and that the possible outcomes of the rescue process would not provide a realistic path to restoring its listing obligations.
The exchange concluded that keeping the company listed would create an expectation of a possible return to trading or residual shareholder value that was unlikely to materialise.
What does the delisting mean for shareholders?
The delisting does not automatically cancel the shares held by existing investors. However, it significantly changes what shareholders can do with them.
After the delisting takes effect, shareholders will continue to hold shares in an unlisted company. Their holdings will be administered by Computershare Investor Services, the company’s transfer agent.
The shares will no longer trade on the JSE’s electronic trading platform, meaning investors will lose the ordinary exchange mechanism for buying and selling their holdings.
The company has also warned shareholders not to expect a cash payment or buyout offer as a result of the delisting.
According to Tongaat Hulett’s announcement, the adopted business rescue plan provides for the disposal of its assets and businesses. Once the process is completed, no value is expected to accrue to shareholders, and investors should not expect future distributions on their shares.
The last day to trade off-market is scheduled for 27 October 2026, with the record date set for 30 October. The shares are due to be removed from the JSE trading system on 3 November.
The distinction is important: delisting is the removal of a company’s shares from the exchange, while the business rescue process determines what happens to the financially distressed company and its assets.
How did Tongaat Hulett fall from grace?
Tongaat Hulett’s roots stretch back to the 19th century, and the company became one of the country’s best-known sugar producers. Its shares were listed on the JSE in 1952, and the group later developed interests in sugar production, agriculture, animal feed and property development.
For decades, it was a significant name in South African business. Its collapse into financial distress was therefore a major blow to investors and the communities and workers connected to its operations.
The crisis became public in 2019, when accounting irregularities were uncovered, raising serious questions about the reliability of the company’s previously reported financial results.
A forensic investigation by PwC identified accounting practices that led to substantial adjustments to the company’s financial position. The revelations severely undermined confidence in its financial reporting and triggered a broader effort to investigate the circumstances surrounding the losses.
The company later pursued legal action against former executives, including former chief executive Peter Staude, former chief financial officer Murray Munro and former finance executive Sean Slabbert, seeking to recover money linked to the alleged misconduct.
In 2022, the former executives were charged with fraud relating to approximately R3.5 billion. The allegations formed part of a wider investigation into the company’s financial reporting and property transactions. The charges must be distinguished from findings of guilt unless and until established in court.
The scandal damaged the company’s reputation, weakened investor confidence and contributed to the financial crisis that ultimately led to its JSE suspension and business rescue.
Economy
The Scorpion Kings’ burgers are all sold out, but the Scorpion Kings Live are back tonight on SABC 1
Before DJ Maphorisa and Kabza De Small were filling FNB Stadium with Amapiano, there was the hustle – and for Maphorisa, part of that hustle involved food.
Long before the Scorpion Kings name became synonymous with some of South Africa’s biggest musical moments, Maphorisa was finding different ways to make money while pursuing his music career.
“I used to deejay on weekends and I opened a tuck-shop at home just to have a cash flow and at school I used to sell sweets and lollipops,” Maphorisa said.
He explained that the money helped him save for his first car and travel between Pretoria and Johannesburg while working towards his music career.
So, years later, seeing the producer put his name to a burger collaboration feels like a rather delicious full-circle moment.
The Scorpion Kings – Maphorisa and Kabza De Small – teamed up with RocoMamas in September for the limited-edition King’s Feast, a menu inspired by their personalities, their music and plenty of South African flavour.
The collaboration ran until 30 September, meaning the burgers have now officially left the menu – but having tasted them, there is plenty to talk about.
Madumane Double – big, saucy and properly Mzansi
The DJ Maphorisa-inspired Madumane Double did not arrive quietly.
The burger featured a 200g double beef smash, chakalaka, chorizo and cheese, all packed into a brioche bun. RocoMamas positioned it as the “main drop” of the collaboration.
The first bite was very much about the beef, but then the chakalaka came through with that familiar South African kick.
Spicy, savoury and gloriously messy, it was the sort of burger that requires you to abandon any plans of eating neatly.
And there was something particularly kasi about that combination.
Chakalaka was not there as a gimmick. It gave the burger a distinctly South African personality, taking the familiar smashburger format and throwing in a flavour many Mzansi households know very well.
RocoMamas described the collaboration as burgers built by the two artists “the way they build a track – layer on layer until it hits.”
That description actually makes sense.
Papta Sting brings the heat
Then came Kabza De Small’s Papta Sting – and this one was for the spice chaser.
The burger combined southern-fried chicken with atchar and jalapeños on a brioche bun. RocoMamas summed it up neatly: “Sweet on the way in, sting on the way out.”
And that is pretty much the assignment.
The chicken brings the crunch, the atchar delivers that sweet-sour South African flavour, and then the jalapeño arrives with a little extra attitude.
It is the kind of burger that makes you pause after the first bite and ask yourself whether you really want another one.
Naturally, you do.
Kabza’s association with the burger also made sense because the collaboration was built around flavours that feel familiar to South African palates rather than trying too hard to reinvent the wheel.
It tasted like the kasi – with a RocoMamas twist
The King’s Feast was at its most interesting when it leaned into flavours that South Africans already know.
Chakalaka. Atchar. Pap balls. Big portions. Messy eating. Food made for sharing.
RocoMamas itself described the campaign as being inspired by the “grootmans of the yanos”, while its promotional material leaned heavily into the idea of bringing South African flavour to the menu.
That made the collaboration feel like more than simply putting two famous names on burgers.
Amapiano has always been closely connected to place, community, language, fashion, dance and everyday South African life. The King’s Feast borrowed from that same cultural vocabulary and put it on a plate.
And yes, chakalaka on a burger works.
There, we said it.
The timing was perfect
The RocoMamas collaboration formed part of the build-up to Scorpion Kings Live at FNB Stadium on 19 September.
RocoMamas was an official activation partner for the massive concert, alongside brands including SABC1, which was the official broadcast partner.
The King’s Feast was available throughout September before ending on 30 September.
So if you were planning to rush to RocoMamas today for a Madumane Double or Papta Sting, unfortunately, you have missed the boat – or in this case, the burger.
But there is another Scorpion Kings moment waiting tonight.
From the burger to the big screen
Scorpion Kings Live is making its television debut on SABC1 today, Saturday, 3 October, at 20:00.
The concert, which was staged at FNB Stadium on 19 September, will be broadcast for the first time on television, with a simultaneous broadcast on SABC Plus. SABC1 confirmed the broadcast as part of its partnership with the event.
For viewers who were not inside FNB Stadium, tonight is the chance to experience the scale of the show from home.
SABC Video Entertainment Marketing Manager Dichaba Phalatse described the concert as “more than a concert” and “a defining South African cultural moment”, saying SABC1 wanted to bring the energy of FNB Stadium to audiences across the country.
The Scorpion Kings themselves said: “Scorpion Kings Live was too special to be experienced for one night only.”
They added: “Now, for the first time, people across South Africa can relive that experience from wherever they are.”
And that is where the RocoMamas collaboration comes full circle.
The burgers may have disappeared from the menu, but the music is still very much on.
So, what was the foodie verdict?
The Madumane Double was the heavyweight – beefy, saucy, cheesy and carrying enough chakalaka to remind you that this was never meant to be just another burger.
The Papta Sting was the cheekier one – crispy chicken, atchar and jalapeño bringing the sweet-and-sting combination promised in the name.
Neither needed to pretend to be fine dining.
They were burgers.
Big, messy, youthful burgers with a distinctly South African accent.
And perhaps that was the point.
Maphorisa went from selling sweets and running a tuck shop to becoming one of the biggest names in Amapiano. Now his name has been attached to a burger loaded with chakalaka.
Not a bad journey.
The King’s Feast may have left RocoMamas on 30 September, but the Scorpion Kings are back on screen tonight.
So get your snacks sorted, turn up the volume and settle in for FNB Stadium from your sofa.
Just don’t blame us if watching Kabza and Maphorisa perform makes you hungry.
That part is on you.
