Hundreds of small sugarcane growers in KwaZulu-Natal face ruin due to cheap sugar imports and rising operational costs resulting from the imposition of a government sugar levy.
“It is a bloodbath; I’m heavily indebted and barely surviving. The closure of some mills in the region and expensive cost of fertilisers is driving small scale growers out of business. The recently imposed sugar tax is the final nail in the coffin,” lamented Zamokuhle Mzimela, a sugarcane grower from the rural village of Gingindlovu, northern KwaZulu-Natal.
He farms on 16 hectares of land. His business was once so profitable he hired eight permanent workers, paying them a monthly salary, and went on to buy four tractors and accompanying trailers.
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