The national government says a rescue deal for the closed Goodyear plant is nearing completion, with negotiations at an advanced stage to revive operations and restore the jobs put on hold in Kariega.
Speaking during a post G20 trade and investment ministers meeting in Gqeberha on Friday, trade, industry & competition (DTIC) deputy minister Zuko Godlimpi said without going into much detail, he was convinced a positive announcement would be made soon.
In August the Goodyear plant in Kariega permanently shut its doors, leading to 907 job losses at the plant.
The closure, which caught many by surprise when the announcement was made in June, ended 78 years of production.
“The matter is being attended to,” Godlimpi said.
“The work that the DTIC and Numsa (National Union of Metalworkers of SA) are doing is progressing very nicely and we are convinced that that facility will be in operation sooner rather than later.
“So I will leave it at that.”
Godlimpi added he was confident the jobs lost by the Goodyear shutdown would be revived soon.
“I won’t tell you who’s doing what, where and how, but I’m very [sure] that the jobs that have now been put on ice because people got severance packages, will very soon be coming back online,” he said.
During a plenary session in the National Assembly last month, Godlimpi told the house that government was looking for a technical partner to help it acquire the plant.
“In parliament I made the statement that we were negotiating with a potential partner that could replace the previous company, so that work is under way,” he said.
“But again, I can’t give you a date on that, because it’s a negotiation. If someone is buying someone else’s facility, the terms of what that looks like cannot just be arbitrarily determined, but something is coming.
“Gqeberha will not be a ghost town.”
During the SA Auto Week held in Nelson Mandela Bay a week ago, OEMs assembling vehicles from the ground up through completely knocked down (CKD) production said they were being undercut by a surge of cheap imports from China and India.
The influx, they argued, was eroding their share of new vehicle sales and undermining efforts to grow SA’s own automotive base.
Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said it was time to take stock of the level of trade that benefited SA with Brics partners, namely China and India.
He added that free trade agreements should be discussed with those countries.
Godlimpi said SA’s initiative was on negotiating deals with China and India.
“We’re trying to but that does not mean the solution is to negotiate free trade agreements,” he said.
“The problem is not the absence of free trade agreements but the structure of the automotive industry in SA and what the global sector is going through globally.
“This is not an excuse.”
Godlimpi said the collapse of volume sales for traditional carmakers was not unique to SA but was a worldwide problem.
“But that’s because the new electric vehicles from China are eating up a lot [of the market].
“What we’re negotiating with them is not to import those cars as fully made, but we need major components of those cars to be made here.
“The issue is where are the cars being manufactured?
“There are some who’ve made overtures that they are prepared to bring parts of their manufacturing to SA, especially in both Gqeberha and East London.
“I know this is an Eastern Cape-centric concern and we’re solving that.”
The Herald
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