{"id":89085,"date":"2025-09-02T17:11:33","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs"},"modified":"2025-09-02T17:20:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T17:20:38","slug":"south-africa-bleeding-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs","title":{"rendered":"South Africa Bleeding Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, which has seen the country shed thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n

Minister Nomakhosazana Meth expressed \u201cgrave concern\u201d over this, but many industry stakeholders have laid the blame for some of these job cuts at the government\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n

In a statement released on Tuesday, 2 September, Meth \u201cnoted with grave concern, the ongoing retrenchments, resulting in heavy job losses\u201d.<\/p>\n

This comes after ArcellorMittal South Africa (AMSA) is set to shut down its long steel plants by the end of September, resulting in an estimated 3,500 direct job losses and a further 100,000 jobs downstream.<\/p>\n

Prior to this, Ford Motor Company of South Africa also announced plans to cut 474 jobs at two of its plants in the country.<\/p>\n

The recent closure of tyre producer Goodyear due to a global restructuring has also resulted in the loss of 900 jobs.<\/p>\n

On 2 September, mining giant Glencore also announced that its ferrochrome venture in South Africa has started restructuring talks that may lead to job losses months after shuttering some of its plants.<\/p>\n

On AMSA, the minister said her department has been part of ongoing efforts by key stakeholders to intervene and mitigate job losses at the steel giant.<\/p>\n

Some of these stakeholders included the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).<\/p>\n

Initially, the plan was to allocate R416.84 million to AMSA from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) under the Temporary Employer\/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) to support 2,982 employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the company is adamant about proceeding with the wind-down. AMSA had hoped to secure further funding, which they were unable to secure,\u201d Meth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the absence of securing the funding, the UIF funding did not materialise as our agreement is conditional upon a company providing a guarantee that they would not effect any retrenchments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary purpose of our mandate is to preserve jobs; therefore, part of the condition is that companies cannot enter a retrenchment process whilst undertaking a turnaround strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHence, the deal collapsed. It is unfortunate that we have reached this point with AMSA, but we remain committed to the intervention strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minister further pointed to other government programmes and interventions that have saved jobs, including around 5,956 employees at the South African Post Office.<\/p>\n

However, according to industry stakeholders, government inaction played a major role in the recent job losses and retrenchments across South Africa.<\/p>\n

Dragging heels<\/b><\/p>\n

Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth<\/p>\n

On the AMSA job losses, trade union Solidarity said they must be attributed to the government\u2019s inability and a dragging of its heels to find solutions to the structural problems that fall under its control.<\/p>\n

In describing the factors that led to the wind-down, AMSA itself also pointed to problems such as rising import tariffs, insufficient tariff protection, excessive electricity costs, an expensive and dysfunctional rail transport system, and a drop in local demand for its products.<\/p>\n

Solidarity Deputy General Secretary Willie Venter blamed the government for the closure, warning that an \u201ceven bigger bloodbath looms\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis closure is the direct result of the government\u2019s inability to create a competitive industrial environment and to find and implement real solutions with a sense of urgency where such solutions fall within its control,\u201d Venter claimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, our steel industry has been plagued by power crises, a failed rail and ports system and a government that simply cannot make the policy decisions to protect our industries. Now the jobs and income of thousands are at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Ford layoffs, Venter also pointed to economic pressures, international political uncertainties, and the government\u2019s unfavourable policies.<\/p>\n

He said these factors are causing the local automotive industry to become increasingly less competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout serious intervention and economic reform from our government, our country will have to endure even more job losses,\u201d Venter warned.<\/p>\n

Similarly, with the Glencore layoffs, he said South African workers are paying the price for the government\u2019s policy mistakes and Eskom\u2019s tariff explosion.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2008, electricity tariffs have increased \u2013 making the entire industry uncompetitive compared to countries where lower electricity costs and government support are the norm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lack of confidence<\/b><\/p>\n

Old Mutual chief economist Johann Els<\/p>\n

Old Mutual chief economist Johann Els has also pointed out that South Africa is suffering from an ongoing confidence crisis, with local and global investors losing trust in local political institutions and the country\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

Els explained that one of the most overlooked issues in South Africa is a lack of confidence in the country due to its deteriorating political climate.<\/p>\n

The main driver of this deterioration is policy uncertainty and question marks around the country\u2019s future, given some of the legislation enacted in the past decade.<\/p>\n

Els said studies from economic institutions indicate that the declining confidence in South Africa has cost it one percentage point of economic growth per annum over the past decade.<\/p>\n

This means that if confidence remained at the levels seen under Former President Thabo Mbeki, the local economy would have grown by over 2% per annum over the past decade instead of 1%.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there are some successful programmes implemented currently, we are gravely concerned about the reported job losses in some sectors,\u201d Minister Meth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not just numbers, but people with families and children to support and put through school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to do everything possible within our mandate to provide the requisite support to struggling companies and contribute to unemployment reduction.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, which has seen the country shed thousands of jobs. Minister Nomakhosazana Meth expressed \u201cgrave concern\u201d over this, but many industry stakeholders have laid the blame for some of these job cuts at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-89085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Africa Bleeding Jobs - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Africa Bleeding Jobs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-02T17:11:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-02T17:20:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"South Africa Bleeding Jobs\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-02T17:11:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-02T17:20:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs\"},\"wordCount\":932,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs\",\"name\":\"South Africa Bleeding Jobs - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-02T17:11:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-02T17:20:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576,\"caption\":\"South Africa Bleeding Jobs\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"South Africa Bleeding Jobs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"South Africa Bleeding Jobs - South Africa","description":"South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"South Africa Bleeding Jobs","og_description":"South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-09-02T17:11:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-02T17:20:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"South Africa Bleeding Jobs","datePublished":"2025-09-02T17:11:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-02T17:20:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs"},"wordCount":932,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg","keywords":["South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs","name":"South Africa Bleeding Jobs - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-02T17:11:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-02T17:20:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"South Africa\u2019s Employment and Labour Minister has expressed concerns about the number of recent job cuts at local firms, ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1756821003.965987.jpg","width":1024,"height":576,"caption":"South Africa Bleeding Jobs"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/south-africa-bleeding-jobs#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"South Africa Bleeding Jobs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}