The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the Eastern Cape said on Thursday that is deeply concerned by the impending closure of the Goodyear manufacturing plant in the Nelson Mandela Bay, putting more than 900 jobs at risk, in particular in Kariega.
COSATU said: ‘Goodyear SA has been manufacturing tyres in Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) since 1947. Alongside Volkswagen, it has been one of the major employers, providing livelihoods across Nelson Mandela Bay.
‘The company’s decision to discontinue manufacturing operations in the country is both shocking and concerning, as it will not only impact on the 900 jobs directly linked to the plant, but will also affect secondary industries such as security and catering.
‘The company has issued Section 189 notices to workers as per the Labour Relations Act, and the CCMA is set to facilitate the process.
‘The discontinuation of Goodyear SA business operations will have dire consequences for workers, their families as well as other businesses that were supported by workers employed at Goodyear.
The Eastern Cape province will be adversely affected by any retrenchments as the levels of unemployment are already alarmingly high at 49 per cent.
‘All efforts to provide alternatives to job losses must be considered during the consultation process. Government must intervene to avert job losses.
‘COSATU is ready to provide its full support to labour unions at Goodyear SA as they engage in the Section 189 process.
‘This crisis must be treated as a national calamity, given the very real dangers it poses to the entire value chain and motor manufacturing industry, workers and their families and their communities. If we are to ensure that we not only retain this strategic sector, but in fact expand it and place South Africa firmly on the path to economic growth and industrialisation, then government must intervene.
‘The Federation will be seeking decisive action from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition in this regard.’
- Msunduzi Municipality traffic police have blocked off Langalibalele Street during a South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) picket.
More than 100 association members who gathered are asking for issues, including non-payment to schools by the Department of Education, to be addressed.
Sadtu regional secretary Salas Mvelase said the issue had impacted the employment of teachers and support staff.
‘We are picketing against the austerity measures that have led to budget cuts and non-payment of funds to schools.
‘This has resulted in the non appointment of teachers, support staff and substitutes. There has been no payment to service providers which has also impacted pupils being unable to get education,’ he said.
At least 49 people, including several schoolchildren, have been killed in the floods that have swept through South Africa’s Eastern Cape province as torrential rain and snow have hit parts of the country.
‘The numbers are just escalating hour after hour. The situation is so bad on the ground,’ provincial premier Oscar Mabuyane said.
Among the bodies recovered are those of four children, a driver and a conductor who were on a bus that was carried away in flood waters as it was crossing a bridge in the town of Mthatha on Tuesday morning.
Mabuyane said rescue efforts were continuing to find four more children who had been in the vehicle that has since been found on a riverbank with no-one inside.
Earlier, an official had said that eight bodies, including that of the bus driver, had been found.
Public broadcaster SABC reported that three children were rescued alive on Tuesday, found clinging to trees.
It is now known that there were 13 people on the bus, 11 of them schoolchildren.
On Wednesday morning, Mabuyane visited the scene to witness rescue efforts, and to meet affected communities in Decoligny, a village outside Mthatha.
South Africa’s government said it will give Transnet, which runs trains and buses, additional guarantees so the troubled state ports and freight railway operator can settle all its debt that falls due and execute its capital-investment programme.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced the approval of a 51 billion rand (£2.1 billion) guarantee facility for Transnet last month and the process of giving it additional support will be finalised by July 25, according to the Department of Transport. The company’s five-year corporate plan shows it needs to repay 99.6 billion rand.
The new facility will provide another lifeline to a company that was given a 47 billion-rand guarantee in 2023 and had accumulated almost 138 billion rand (£5.8 billion of debt by the end of March the following year.
China drops its African tariffs
CHINA has said it is ready to drop the tariffs it charges on imports from all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations.
The move, announced at a China-Africa co-operation meeting, comes as the continent is facing the possibility of increased tariffs on its products entering the US.
China is Africa’s largest trading partner – a position it has held for the last 15 years – with Africa exporting goods to the Asian nation worth around £125 billion in 2023.
A joint ministerial statement criticised ‘certain countries’ (efforts to) disrupt the existing international economic and trade order’ through the unilateral imposition of tariffs.
It then called on the US to resolve trade disputes on the basis of ‘equality, respect and mutual benefit’.
The zero-tariff move, when implemented, will be an extension of the deal made last year for China to drop tariffs on goods from 33 African nations classified as ‘least developed’.
The expanded list will include some of China’s largest trading partners on the continent, including South Africa and Nigeria. China has not said when the decision will come into effect.
Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) is the only African state excluded from the zero-tariff announcement as it recognises Taiwan as an independent country, whereas China regards it as a breakaway province.
China currently imports a lot of raw materials from Africa, notably from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea.
In April, President Donald Trump caused consternation among US trading partners by announcing high tariffs on its imports form many countries, including a 50 per cent rate for Lesotho, 30 per cent for South Africa and 14 per cent for Nigeria.
The implementation has been paused until next month, though the temporary halt could be extended further for countries who are on good political terms.
In 2024, the US imported $39.5 billion (£29 billion) worth of goods from Africa.
Some of that was brought in under the zero-tariff deal known as the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) which now looks under threat if the Trump administration goes ahead with the imposition of fresh charges.
