South Africa’s government must “re-nationalise” ArcelorMittal South Africa to avert job losses and rebuild the country’s beleaguered manufacturing industry, according to a leader of a body that represents more than a dozen labour groups.
The company has begun closing steel operations that employ about 3 500 people and support as many as 100 000 indirect jobs after nearly two years of negotiations with the government failed to address its complaints, including high-input costs and competition from cheap imports.
ArcelorMittal’s assets include what was once Iscor, the State-run steelmaker built during apartheid to shield the country against sanctions and privatised in 1989.
The shuttering of the plant is bad news for a country where a third of the workforce is unemployed and which needs to find alternate markets for its companies hit by 30% tariffs on exports to the US.
Ford Motor Co. and Glencore Plc have also announced plans to cut jobs.
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