A Chinese firm has slipped into the driver’s seat at Izusa Carriers, prompting renewed questions about creditor involvement in the business rescue process.
SA Trucker has been reporting on Izusa Carriers since early 2025, when the large logistics operator entered business rescue. Over the past year, our coverage of business rescue in the transport sector has highlighted just how complex these processes are, and how the actions of multiple stakeholders, including financiers, OEMs, shareholders and major clients can determine whether a company survives or collapses.
Mid-2025 brought rare good news. Creditors overwhelmingly voted in favour of adopting a business rescue plan for Izusa Carriers. At the time, the mood was optimistic: roughly 750 jobs were preserved, operations continued, and there was renewed hope that the company could stabilise and grow in a labour market desperately short of opportunities.
However, over the past two weeks, information began filtering through to SA Trucker suggesting that all was not well behind the scenes.
A takeover few expected
Initially, reports that Izusa’s shareholder was being courted by a new suitor seemed unlikely. With a business rescue plan already adopted, logic suggested that implementation should be well underway, if not close to completion. To verify the rumours, SA Trucker contacted several industry sources.
What we learned came as a surprise.
Izusa Carriers was reportedly taken over in November 2025 by its sole client, a Chinese-owned mining company. Shortly thereafter, the shareholder, who was also the CEO, was reportedly released from the business.
On the face of it, one could reasonably deduce that the client saw value in keeping its logistics service provider operational and found it simpler to acquire the business during rescue rather than source a new contractor.
But the deeper SA Trucker dug, the more questions emerged.
Who took over Izusa?
Further investigation revealed that the acquiring entity is China Precious Asia Limited (CPAL), operating through a South African entity, Kairong South Africa (Pty) Ltd, reportedly a subsidiary of CPAL.
What immediately raised eyebrows was not the identity of the buyer alone, but the apparent response, or lack thereof, from OEMs and their in-house finance arms.
A review of the Izusa Carriers business rescue plan shows that the company’s largest credit exposure sits with Volvo Financial Services, Scania Financial Services, MAN / ABSA, Phuma, and Daimler Financial Services.
Despite this exposure, and despite no explicit instruction authorising a sale being clearly outlined in the adopted business rescue plan, Izusa appears to have changed ownership.
Credit exposure and unanswered questions
According to information available to SA Trucker, neither CPAL nor Kairong South Africa holds significant assets in South Africa. This raises a fundamental question: how was credit risk anchored and maintained after the change in ownership?
Upon closer inspection of the business rescue plan, it also becomes clear that, notwithstanding the reported sale, Izusa Carriers remains under business rescue for at least another three years. “Substantial implementation”, which would allow the company to apply to exit rescue, is only achieved once all creditors are paid in full, including long-term finance agreements.
Read | How Business Rescue Has Become a Soft Landing for Liquidators
Crucially, during this period, the existing shareholders, Baszhon Cattle Co and Ebenhaezer Basson, remain bound as sureties.
This creates an unusual and potentially precarious situation: the former shareholder reportedly no longer controls the business, yet continues to carry the financial risk should the company default on its obligations.
Why this structure worries industry observers
Industry sources have pointed out that, in theory, this structure allows a new owner to:
- Dispose of assets
- Reduce maintenance expenditure
- Restructure or retrench staff
- Default on instalments
If that were to occur, repossessions would follow, and liability could still rest with the original sureties, not the new owner.
SA Trucker is not alleging that this is happening, but the structure itself has prompted serious concern among industry stakeholders, particularly given the apparent acceptance of this arrangement by OEM financiers.
Experience and due diligence
Sources familiar with Izusa’s operations told SA Trucker that, to their knowledge, CPAL has not previously owned or operated a large-scale trucking business in South Africa, let alone one with a fleet of around 350 trucks.
That has led to further questions about due diligence, often referred to in the industry as assessing the “jockey of the horse”. Retaining experienced senior management would ordinarily be seen as a stabilising step.
Yet SA Trucker was informed this week that CPAL staff inside Izusa’s offices have begun discussing the possible retrenchment of administrative staff, a move that typically precedes deeper operational cuts.
Community impact and broader concerns
For communities like Hectorspruit, the stakes are high. Industry veterans will recall the economic fallout in Phalaborwa when its largest employer was taken over by a Chinese firm, resulting in widespread job losses and community hardship.
It is not unreasonable to ask whether Izusa Carriers, and the community that depends on it, could face a similar fate if local jobs are replaced by imported expertise.
One further reality is difficult to ignore: once ownership, management and client interests align under a Chinese parent, future procurement decisions are unlikely to favour European trucks or South African-built trailers. The supply chain is likely to follow ownership.
What happens next?
For the sake of South African jobs, many in the industry hope that rumours of an alternative buyer are true.
SA Trucker has sent formal media queries to the business rescue practitioners, OEM financiers, and affected parties, seeking clarity on the legal process followed, creditor consent, and how risk has been assessed post-takeover.
As always, we invite all parties, including CPAL, Kairong, OEMs, financiers and former Izusa leadership to provide their version of events. Any responses will be published in full and without prejudice.
What is clear is that Izusa Carriers has become another critical case study in how business rescue outcomes in South Africa’s transport sector are shaped, not just by plans on paper, but by who ultimately controls the wheel.
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