South Africa Urgently Needs a Crisis Summit on Job Losses, Warns Parliament

A country on the edge of an unemployment cliff

South Africa’s unemployment crisis has entered dangerous territory. Mass retrenchments have swept through key industries in recent months, leaving tens of thousands of families reeling. Now, Parliament’s Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade is calling for an urgent crisis summit to stop the bleeding before the damage becomes irreversible.

Committee chairperson Sonja Boshoff has urged Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau to take the lead, saying the country cannot afford another round of empty dialogue. “Our economy is stagnant and paralysed by contradictory policies. Workers and communities are counting on decisive leadership,” Boshoff said.

Her warning follows a fresh wave of layoffs: ArcelorMittal’s planned cut of 4,000 jobs, Goodyear’s Kariega plant closure with 900 roles lost, Coca-Cola’s retrenchment of 680 workers, and Ford SA cutting over 470 positions. These are not isolated casesthey reflect a deeper structural malaise.

A staggering loss of livelihoods

The picture painted by Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey is grim. In just the first quarter of 2025, 291,000 jobs vanished. Trade alone accounted for 194,000 of those losses, construction shed 119,000, and mining dropped 35,000.

That translated into a jump in the official unemployment ratenow sitting at 32.9%, a chilling reminder that one in three South Africans is without work. For communities already strained by rising food prices, transport costs, and rolling blackouts, the losses hit like a hammer blow.

What the proposed crisis summit could mean

Boshoff argues that South Africa needs more than sympathyit needs bold, coordinated action. The proposed summit would bring together business, labour, and all levels of government to thrash out urgent solutions.

Among the interventions she wants on the table are:

• Relief on electricity and freight costs for manufacturers under strain.

• Faster support for localisation to protect homegrown industries.

• Stronger interventions in steel and automotive sectors, both critical job drivers.

• Trade remedies against unfair imports undermining local companies.

She also wants reforms to Section 189 consultations, which regulate retrenchments, ensuring workers get more transparency, fairer severance, and genuine retraining and redeployment opportunities.

The regions hit hardest

The jobs bloodbath hasn’t been evenly spread. Gauteng, with its fragile industrial base, has taken a massive hit. The Eastern Cape, long dependent on the auto industry, has been rocked by closures like Goodyear’s. And in the Free State, the mining downturn has left whole towns gasping for survival.

Boshoff believes these regions need targeted stimulus programmes, not generic promises. Investment in infrastructure, labour absorption schemes, and economic diversification could help cushion the blow.

Public frustration is boiling over

On social media, frustration is raw. Workers post stories of retrenchment letters received via email, of factories shutting down overnight, and of struggling to feed families while waiting on UIF payouts that arrive late or not at all.

Some South Africans have applauded Boshoff’s push for a summit, saying at least someone in Parliament is acknowledging the urgency. Others are cynical, pointing out that summits and dialogues have been tried beforeoften ending in vague resolutions with little delivery.

Why this moment matters

South Africa has weathered many economic storms, but the combination of stagnant growth, policy contradictions, and global headwinds has created a jobs crisis of historic proportions. The mass retrenchments aren’t just numbersthey’re the unraveling of communities, the migration of skills, and the erosion of hope.

Boshoff’s call for a crisis summit may or may not succeed, but it has forced one undeniable truth back onto the table: without urgent intervention, South Africa risks losing an entire generation of workers to unemployment and despair.

{Source: The Citizen}

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