Steel industry stakeholders call for urgent reform of ailing master plan

By Johnathan Paoli

The Trade, Industry and Competition Portfolio Committee has been presented with a sobering account of the challenges facing South Africa’s steel and metal fabrication industry during a stakeholder engagement session in Parliament.

Chaired by Mzwandile Masina, the session followed a briefing early last month by the Trade, Industry and Competition Department and involved input from key industry associations including the SA Iron and Steel Institute (SAISI), the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) and others across the value chain such as recyclers, exporters and rail suppliers.

“Clearly, there is a need for a steel indaba to ensure that stakeholders, the DTIC and other relevant government departments and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can develop short-term interventions to save the steel industry and for the industry to make inputs and proposals to the country’s industrial policy to address its long-term sustainability and contribution to the economy.

“However,