Tongaat Hulett

within the government and have been working closely with the smaller cane growers.”

Tongaat Hulett, he said, had managed to develop a good relationship with rural communities, presumably in conjunction with the powers that be in the capital, Harare.

The company has also been instrumental in giving advice to smaller growers. “Hopefully, this will have helped Tongaat’s business model to suit the circumstances around the land issue,” he said.

Klipin said should Tongaat Hulett lose the land in Zimbabwe, which he believed was unlikely, it could mean that the company would continue to strengthen its African expansion programme and look for additional land suitable to grow sugar cane.

“They could expand in other regions such as Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi, which are relatively politically stable with good climates and good water resources.”

He believed Tongaat Hulett’s chief executive, Peter Staude, was an astute operator who had been able to build good relations with the Zimbabweans.

Kagiso Asset Management’s head of research, Abdul Davids, said: “In the event of land expropriation, the mills would still be able to operate provided the expropriated land continues to produce sugar cane.”

He said that Tongaat Hulett had been at the forefront of empowering indigenous farmers