Six years later, Darnall still bears scars of mill closure
The streets of the farming town are now lined with derelict buildings left behind by people seeking work.
The 2020 closure of the Darnall sugar mill has become a stark warning of what could unfold across the KZN North Coast if Tongaat Hulett Limited is liquidated.
Located just 15km north of Stanger, Darnall once depended heavily on the Tongaat Hulett mill – one of four major mills on the North Coast alongside Maidstone, Gledhow and Amatikulu.
When operations ceased, hundreds of workers lost their jobs, triggering a sharp economic downturn that residents say the town has never recovered from.
READ: Lack of milling capacity hurts North Coast sugar industry | North Coast Courier
Now, with a liquidation application against the 134-year-old company set to return to court on June 17, concerns are growing about the future of Tongaat Hulett’s remaining operations and the communities that rely on them.
Six years after the Darnall closure, former mill contractor Siyabonga Mtshali said unemployment and poverty remain widespread.
“Everyone is really struggling. When the mill closed, everyone lost their jobs,” he said.
“There are a lot of problems. People are buying and selling anything they can find, but there is nothing to even recycle for money in this place. We are just hoping and praying now that the mill will one day reopen because we need work.”
Local businesses say the closure had an immediate impact on trade and household spending.
Nirvana Mudali, who has owned a hardware store and supermarket in Darnall for 25 years, said the town’s economy deteriorated rapidly after the mill shut down.
“It was sad and it had a negative impact right through the community,” she said.
“We saw a drop in business; people could not afford basic food items and barely scraped by.”
The economic decline has been accompanied by rising crime and vandalism. The towns infrastructure has been stripped. Many houses and buildings sit derelict. The abandoned mill has been targeted by thieves and Darnall Country Club is regularly burgled and vandalised.
Mudali said residents started a neighbourhood watch and private security guard the derelict mill, surrounded by re-enforced fencing and barbed wire.
“Crime is bad!” she said.
Mudali warned that a wider collapse of Tongaat Hulett could have severe consequences beyond Darnall.
“If Tongaat Hulett goes down, it is going to have a terrible impact on the whole country,” she said.
Hopefully Darnall’s experience will not become a blueprint for what lies ahead for other mill towns – but the threat remains a serious one.
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