At least seven former senior officials of Tongaat Hulett are set to appear in the Durban specialised commercial crimes court on Thursday in a huge fraud and corruption case.

Sources close to the investigation confirmed the officials were arrested on Wednesday.

In January, the JSE-listed sugar producer said it was claiming R450m against former directors and executives implicated in the group’s accounting scandal, including former CEO Peter Staude.

This followed a damning 2019 PwC forensic investigation that found some senior executives at Tongaat had allegedly been part of inflating the group’s profits.

This is a developing story.