Government intervention to save steel industry ‘too late’ – Vavi

15th September 2015

By: African News Agency

  

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Government’s introduction of a 10% steel import tariff was ”too little, too late,” former Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi said on Tuesday.

”The 10% increase on import tariffs came 21 years late. We are now reaping what former ministers such as Trevor Manuel [former finance minister] and Alec Erwin [former trade and industry minister] started, when they said then we must be open to competition but not protect our interests…we are paying the price to neoliberal approaches to the economy,” Vavi said.

He was speaking at a media briefing in Johannesburg where he announced a national march against corruption that is set to take place in Cape Town and Pretoria on September 30.

Vavi spoke about how thousands of jobs in the steel industry were on the line as the industry struggles to survive the tough market conditions, which were largely blamed on cheap steel imports from China.

Several metal and steel companies had issued unions with Section 189 notices, which regulates retrenchments in terms of the Labour Relations Act, in the past several weeks.

Last month, government met with industry bosses and unions in efforts to mitigate the crisis and the impending jobs bloodbath. Government agreed to implement the 10% import tariff, which was also signed off last month.

Vavi blamed the crisis in the steel sector on all cabinet ministers appointed from 1994 to now.

”All of them are guilty and have blood on their hands. Every country in the world, such as Thailand, developed on the back of their robust manufacturing sectors…we became friends with everybody and lacked political will,” he said.

He pointed out: ”China is our friend, but the Chinese know how to protect their interests”.

Labour unions have pointed out to government that the steel industry contributed to the economy by sustaining other industries, including the mining, construction, energy, infrastructure, and automotive sectors.

The five industries employ over eight million workers, contributing some R600 billion to the economy annually. The steel industry employed approximately 190 000 people directly, and a further 100 000 people were employed by industry suppliers.

Vavi said 30 000 jobs were the line, and this could increase to 80 000 if one factored in expected job losses in secondary industries.

”The tarrif will only begin to have an impact several years from now and will not stop the jobs bloodbath. It is too late, but we appreciate the tariff increase…government acted and did something about this crisis,” Vavi noted.

The industry was a core employer in Vanderbijlpark, Newscastle, Germiston, eMalahleni, and Nkandla districts, with 75% of households in Vanderbijlpark, south of Johannesburg, dependent on the local steel industry for their livelihoods.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), and Cosatu affiliates, including the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu), would be marching in the “United against Corruption” march at the end of the month.

The Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) and the National Council of Trade Unions (NCTU) were expected to participate in the march.

Edited by African News Agency

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