The National Union of Metal workers of South Africa’s (NUMSA) General Secretary, Irvin Jim, says the Eastern Cape’s automotive industry will not survive unless de-industrialisation is urgently addressed.
Jim was referring to factory closures, retrenchments and the downscaling of manufacturing operations when he addressed delegates at the union’s Eastern Cape Regional Elective Congress in Gqeberha.
Alongside electing new regional leadership, delegates spent the weekend debating the economic challenges facing workers and strategies to protect jobs in key sectors.
Jim says years of factory closures, retrenchments and declining manufacturing activity have placed thousands of jobs at risk and weakened the province’s economy.
“We are calling on government to take the necessary precautions to protect the auto industry. We are saying no to the dumping of cars from China, from India. India imports in our local market are about 56% today. And yet we cannot export anything to India. Their tariffs start from 70 up, which means its a closed market. The question is why should we allow so many brands that are dumping their cars in SA? They are not setting up plants, they are not setting up components to manufacture here. We are saying to government, you must increase tariffs and protect our local market.”
NUMSA Eastern Cape Regional Secretary Mziyanda Twani explains, “Economically, workers have been suffering throughout. Our membership used to be around 50,000. We are around 30,000 organised workers. So, economically, workers have been in the receiving end, and we have been trying to fight and campaign through the DDIC, to resuscitate what has now become known as de-industrialisation. What used to be industrial areas now has become warehousing areas, where factors that used to produce, manufacture, are basically housing consumables for the retail sector. So, there’s no work.”
Executive Mayor Ms Babalwa Lobishe used the Isuzu Motors handover at Motherwell to thank teachers for their dedication and to frame the donation as an investment in Nelson Mandela Bay’s future rather than a simple act of charity. Speaking in the month dedicated to honouring… pic.twitter.com/rt8tm0PCIE
— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) July 16, 2026
About the Author
