ILLOVO SUGAR SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY INFORMATION Illovo Sugar South Africa is a whollyowned subsidiary of Illovo Group, Africa’s biggest sugar producer which has extensive agricultural and manufacturing operations in six countries. Situated in KwaZulu-Natal, Illovo SA
MAMONGAE MAHLARE MANAGING DIRECTOR
Global experience in general management, commercial, operational and engineering roles qualified Mamongae Mahlare to assume leadership of Illovo Sugar South Africa three years ago. With an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BSc Chemical Engineering degree from Wits University, she has previously held senior management positions at SABMiller Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa as well as with Coca Cola Bottling South Africa. A strong believer in the role of business as an active participant in delivering on the social and economic development agendas of the country, she is committed to building the rural economy by leveraging Illovo’s value chain and capabilities to unlock enterprise development in the rural areas we operate in and consequently contributing to growing the number and the quality of livelihoods. Her growth plans for Illovo Sugar South Africa include investing in enhancing our competitiveness across the value chain, investing in our human capital and building robustness and resilience into the business platform. Diversification into new revenue streams within agri-processing are also opportunities under development.
210 STANDARD BANK TO P W O M EN LEADERS
employs 3 000 permanent and nonpermanent people. It has four agricultural estates; three sugar factories; one refinery; a state-of-the-art warehouse; three wholly-owned downstream plants and 50% share in a distillery. Its operations include the cultivation of sugar cane and production of raw, brown, and refined sugar, syrup, together with the downstream products of furfural and its derivatives, ethyl alcohol and lactulose. Illovo SA sugar markets are largely domestic, with sales into the world raw sugar market. Downstream products are primarily export-focused. Recognised as Illovo’s first presence in KwaZulu-Natal in 1891, Illovo SA today is an invested, long-term contributor to South Africa’s economy, committed to partnering for the continuing transformation of its agricultural and sugar production sectors. Illovo SA is a significant contributor to South Africa’s economy. The company plays an important societal role, supporting significant direct and indirect employment in rural areas through its value chain, providing financial support, technical assistance and capacity building to smallholder farmers, and supporting the South African government’s development and land reform agenda.
Illovo SA is also a significant producer of renewable energy and continues to reduce its environmental impact. Illovo SA is conscious of the need to progress Black Economic Empowerment and has adopted an integrated approach which encompasses meaningful and
sustainable participation of Black people at all operations of the company, and promotes participation of Black people and communities in the sugar business. A formal company policy is in place to promote preferential procurement and outsourcing to Black enterprises and service providers. The programme for the sale of Illovo cane farms to Black farmers, which commenced in the 1996/97 financial year, has resulted in the percentage of company cane land which has now been made available to Black people rising to 50.1%. The company has structures to assist both small and medium-scale growers with their farming activities through the provision of a range of services designed around improving the efficiency of their operations. The sale of the Gledhow and Umfolozi sugar operations to BEE companies provides direct and meaningful BEE participation in the South African sugar milling industry. • In 2016/17, Illovo SA’s total economic impact – including direct, indirect and induced impacts – is estimated at ZAR 9.6-billion. This includes ZAR 1.4-billion in direct impacts (gross value added), and the remainder via multiplier effects within the supply chain and wider economy.
