Closure of sugar mill is death knell to small KZN north coast towns
Tongaat Hulett’s business crisis ‘is not merely a speed wobble, it is a collision that needs to be avoided’
The Darnell sugar mill loomed large over the small KwaZulu-Natal north coast town — a hub of activity from early morning until sunset as gumboot-wearing workers in hard hats hauled heaps of cane through the mill and set the noisy machinery to work, shredding the sweet, juicy canes into sap and later molasses and commercial sugar.
The mill was a beacon for prosperity, community and riches. Now, decades later, the tall steel structure lies dormant and rusty — the cacophony of sounds emanating from the grinders have been silenced. The once-green sugar fields have become overrun with dirt, the nearby Nonoti filled with sewage...
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