Masawi takes over at Tongaat
NEW Tongaat Hulett managing director (MD)/chief executive officer (CEO) Tendai Masawi is taking over with effect from May 1, 2024.
Masawi had an opportunity to address stakeholders at a farewell function for his predecessor Aiden Mhere held at Triangle Country Club last week Thursday.
He said he was a man of a few words, but hinted that he would be using some techniques from Tongaat Hulett South Africa, where he used to work.
He said he would be setting aside a day that farmers will come and familiarise with the operations of Tongaat, including the sugar milling factory.
Masawi takes over from former CEO Aiden Mhere, who went on early retirement last week.
“I am a person of a few words, but I know we are going to work well with farmers. I plan to set aside a day for sugarcane farmers to get a feel of the operations at the mill. We will not operate secretively, I saw this in South Africa and it really worked,” he said.
Earlier, farmers had complained that they were not conversant with the operations of the mill and at one time, small-scale sugarcane farmers demanded to be given raw sugar by Tongaat Hulett instead of the miller selling the sugar on their behalf as per their agreement.
Masawi said setting a day to meet farmers would give the sugarcane farmers an appreciation of how the mill works.
Masawi joined Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe as milling operations director in September 2012.
He holds an MSc in Chemical Engineering (Sugar Technology) degree and is a seasoned sugar technologist with 35 years of regional industrial and corporate management experience. He has held various roles within the Sugar value chain.
Masawi is no stranger to the Zimbabwean operations, which he joined after fulfilling various roles at Zimbabwe Sugar Refinery (ZSR) Corporation Limited, where he started his career in the sugar industry in 1988 as a chemist at the Harare plant.
From there, he held several roles such as operations manager and general manager at ZSR Bulawayo and Harare Refineries; and later as chief operations officer and executive director for starafricacorporation until July 2012.
Having joined Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe as milling operations director in September 2012, he was later appointed executive: milling operations and technical services from 2018.