Eastern Cape tea estates face provisional liquidation
Magwa and Majola tea estates – into which the government has ploughed R100m of taxpayers’ money over almost three years – faces provisional liquidation as the government has faltered at the final hurdle and withheld a final tranche of R48m.
A Daily Dispatch report says the provisional liquidation of the project will destroy remarkable progress made towards sustainability during the three years it has been under business rescue.
According to court papers before the Eastern Cape High Court (Makhanda), the government failed to come up with R48m of the estimated R148m needed to help the Magwa company – which includes Majola – back onto the road of sustainability.
The result is that the tea estates – where tea production increased dramatically during the business rescue – have had to lay off workers and stop mid-harvest as there is no money for salaries or operational costs.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
