ArcelorMittal’s announcement that it will shut its long steel products business and cut as many as 3 500 jobs is a stark reminder of the severity of the crisis South Africa is facing, says the EFF.
In a statement, the party said it had consistently warned that load-shedding would lead to job losses, economic instability and a decline in the quality of life in South Africa.
It was responding to ArcelorMittal’s saying high transport and logistics costs, and the ongoing electricity crisis, had placed it in a difficult position.
The steel manufacturer’s announcement followed one from motor manufacturer Volkswagen SA, who have also warned that the escalating costs of doing business in South Africa was becoming unsustainable due to load-shedding, deteriorating rail infrastructure, and inefficiency at the country’s ports.
The EFF said it had warned the ANC government that the mismanagement of Eskom would have severe consequences to “our economy and our people”.
“The retrenchments at ArcelorMittal are just the latest example of the damage that load shedding is causing in our economy. Car manufacturer Volkswagen has also been forced to cut jobs, or consider closing plants due to the power crisis, while Telkom retrenched 15% of its workforce earlier this year,” it said in the statement.
“Furthermore, it is reported that about 60% of small businesses in townships have had to lay-off workers, and a further 7% have had to completely close down. This is a disaster for our economy and for the livelihoods of millions of South Africans.”
The party said a recent incident involving a patient who bled to death outside Northam Clinic in Limpopo, after being denied entry due to load shedding, was a further tragic example of the human cost of the crisis.
“Refusing access to a healthcare service due to load shedding is a clear violation of fundamental human rights. South Africans deserve a healthcare system that ensures uninterrupted access, especially during critical moments.
“Currently, hundreds of learners are facing the challenge of writing their matric exams amidst load-shedding, causing significant disruptions to their education. It is disheartening to witness these young individuals forced to study under such difficult conditions.”
The EFF said these were children who rightfully deserved a fair opportunity to build a future for themselves, but current circumstances made it even challenging for them to achieve that.
Reacting to the ArcelorMittal announcement, the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) said the steel manufacturer’s persistent problems were created by the contradictions inherent in capitalist overproduction.
The union said this showed that privatising Iscor was not a route to greater fortunes, but just a way to give the private sector – first local, then a foreign imperial cartel – more space for profiteering.
“Under capitalism, the success of an enterprise is determined by two things: Being a monopoly and taking advantage of imperfect competition, or beating its competitors in perfect competition. It is not a matter of whether you are controlled by the government or the private sector. Having failed to beat its competitors domestically and internationally, ArcelorMittal is scrambling to blame government policy,” the union said.
“Saftu has for years been campaigning that the production of steel for a developing economy was of such importance that Iscor should not have been sold in the first place. Giving foreign capital more space in the economy, which in the beginning used its international tentacles to squeeze small domestic steel manufacturers out, was never an option.
“To this end, we have called for the re-nationalisation of ArcelorMittal SA and included this in our Section 77 demands. We feel vindicated. The neo-liberals who argue that the state should play no role in the economy must note that the steel industry was not hamstrung by public ownership, but by the internal contradictions of capitalism, including ruinous competition.”
Sunday Independent
manyane.manyane@inl.co.za