Zulu Royal Chancellor Inkosi Malusi Zondi is working to stop Tongaat Hulett from being liquidated, saying thousands of jobs and the rural economy of KwaZulu-Natal are at stake.

Zondi says King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has mandated him to step in and halt the liquidation of the sugar company. He has met Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau and business mogul Robert Gumede as part of those efforts.

"Our meeting was mainly focused on saving Tongaat Hulett and also for the government to focus on the development of rural areas," Zondi said.

Zondi is pushing for small-scale and black sugarcane farmers who are owed money to be paid immediately after SARS. He says their interests must be protected in any liquidation process.

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The Zulu Royal House has warned that the collapse of Tongaat Hulett would be a catastrophe for the regional economy, affecting thousands of direct and indirect workers.

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has appealed to government and private sector leaders to save the company. King Misuzulu warned the collapse would be an economic and social catastrophe for thousands of his subjects.

Minister Tau announced at the Frank Dialogue on B-BBEE in Durban on Saturday that he would step in to resolve the impasse in the business rescue process of Tongaat Hulett Limited (THL). He also met stakeholders on Saturday morning.

More than 200 lawyers appeared in court last week as multiple parties intervened, including the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). But no party has yet offered to cover six months' working capital costs of R600-million, or convinced lenders Vision Consortium and the IDC to delay payment.