{"id":828205,"date":"2025-06-13T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=828205"},"modified":"2025-06-17T12:14:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T10:14:32","slug":"major-international-company-closing-operations-in-south-africa-government-steps-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/828205\/major-international-company-closing-operations-in-south-africa-government-steps-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Major international company closing operations in South Africa – government steps in"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition is stepping in to try to prevent the closure of Goodyear\u2019s factory in Kariega, in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) is holding urgent talks with Goodyear to try to save the plant and prevent what it describes as a looming economic disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The factory\u2019s closure comes as the Eastern Cape, where Kariega is located, faces an extremely high unemployment rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concerning level of unemployment in the Eastern Cape was recently highlighted in Stats SA\u2019s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the first quarter of 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over half of the working-age population in those provinces would be categorised as unemployed or having given up looking for work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report showed that Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape are on the verge of joining the North West, with more people unemployed than working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the extended definition, the North-West province already carries this distinction with 56% of the population unemployed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape are close by, with expanded unemployment rates of 49.3% and 49.0%, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DTIC has warned that Goodyear\u2019s exit would exacerbate the crisis, impacting the workers directly employed and the secondary industries dependent on the plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include catering, security, and corporate social investment initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government spokesperson Yamkela Fanisi said a potential solution to the situation is to adopt a strategy similar to that used to prevent steel giant ArcelorMittal from shutting down its operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreement with the steel manufacturer, facilitated by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), involved a significant R1.68 billion financial facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This support enabled the company to postpone the closure of two steel mills and protect 3,500 jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fanisi noted that a similar intervention could be considered for Goodyear, provided the company is willing to cooperate. However, Goodyear has so far remained silent on the negotiations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the statement on its closure intentions, the company said it is committed to supporting affected employees but provided little detail on its willingness to keep the plant open. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closure, it explained, forms part of a broader effort to streamline its operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restructuring involves closing the South African facility and realigning sales, administrative, and management functions in accordance with the Labour Relations Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodyear not the only one <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Goodyear’s planned departure has raised significant criticism. Former South African ambassador to Japan Smuts Ngonyama also called on government ministers to intervene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He urged the state to provide incentives and support to ensure the facility remains operational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stressed that the plant\u2019s continued operation is vital not just for the region\u2019s economy but also for the dignity and livelihoods of its workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labour unions have also raised concerns, with the South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) voicing strong opposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spokesperson Newton Masuku described Goodyear\u2019s decision as a betrayal of the workers and communities that have supported the company for nearly a century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe now face a coordinated wave of industrial disinvestment across the Eastern Cape, and workers are being left to carry the cost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with the news from Goodyear, Masuku noted that Conti-Tech, a subsidiary of Continental Tyres, has recently scaled down operations, and Aspen Pharmacare has also announced job cuts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These closures, he said, are not driven by economic collapse but by corporate restructuring and cost-cutting, prioritising global strategies over local impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese decisions will deepen poverty, accelerate migration, and destroy any hope of economic transformation in the Eastern Cape,\u201d Masuku warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further argued that multinational corporations cannot be trusted to prioritise South Africa\u2019s developmental needs, calling the wave of closures an abuse of public trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given these concerns, Saftu has called for a coordinated response involving the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), the DTIC, Goodyear, Conti-Tech, Aspen, and other key stakeholders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union wants urgent crisis negotiations to explore alternatives to closure and find ways to preserve jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the government remains hopeful that a last-minute deal can be struck, the company\u2019s commitment to its global transformation strategy might still mean local efforts will not be enough to reverse the decision. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government has stepped in to try to prevent the closure of Goodyear\u2019s factory in Kariega, a province on the edge of having more unemployed people than working.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":827442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[21184,4921,21182,853,20907,17547],"class_list":["post-828205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-and-competition","tag-goodyear","tag-industry","tag-south-africa","tag-the-department-of-trade","tag-the-south-african-federation-of-trade-unions-saftu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828205"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828338,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828205\/revisions\/828338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}