JOB crisis needs urgent intervention from government.
This is according to opposition party in Parliament, ActionSA.
ActionSA member of Parliament (MP), Alan Beesley called on the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza to schedule an urgent debate to address the unfolding unemployment crisis in South Africa's manufacturing sector.
"The situation has reached a national emergency, with hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk across steel, automotive, mining sectors and the manufacturing sector as a whole," he said.
ArcelorMittal South Africa recently announced that it was winding down its long steel operations, directly affecting 3 500 workers in Newcastle, KZN and Vereeniging, Vaal and potentially threatening more than 100 000 downstream jobs.
In the automotive sector, almost 500 Ford employees across Pretoria and Gqeberha face retrenchment, while Goodyear's closure of its 78-year-old tyre plant in Kariega will impact around 900 direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain.
Beesley pointed out that over the past two years, South Africa's automotive industry has seen 12 company closures and more than 4 000 job losses.
"This is not just about company closures. High electricity costs, load shedding, inefficient ports and crumbling roads and rail infrastructure are driving up operational costs and undermining the competitiveness of our automotive sector," he said.
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Beesley said that the mining and smelting industry is similarly under threat.
He stated that Glencore and Merafe have initiated retrenchment processes at their Boshoek and Wonderkop smelters, potentially affecting almost 2 500 direct jobs and 17 000 indirect roles, impacting an estimated 155 000 dependents.
Additional retrenchments at Assmang's Cato Ridge in KZN smelter have affected 600 workers.
"These are not statistics. They are families facing insecurity and deepening inequality. Parliament must act to protect South Africa's industrial workers," Beesley said.
He said that ActionSA is urging the National Assembly to hold a focused debate to which the following partners should be invited to attend and contribute: Ministers of Employment and Labour and Trade, Industry and Competition and representatives from the Industrial Development Corporation, UIF, labour unions, industry leaders and affected workers.
He emphasised that the debate should prioritise interventions such as revising electricity tariffs, strengthening energy infrastructure for smelters, industry-specific financial support tied to job preservation, incentivising localisation and implementing retraining programmes and social protection for displaced workers.
"South Africa is at a critical inflection point. Without urgent Parliamentary action, hundreds of thousands of livelihoods hang in the balance," added Beesley.
