South Africa holds around 80% of the world\u2019s chrome ore reserves, making it a key player in ferrochrome, which is essential for stainless steel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, unreliable and expensive power has forced Glencore to suspend production at several smelters, including Boshoek, Wonderkop, and Lion, and to shut others in Rustenburg and Lydenburg, in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Glencore Alloys CEO Japie Fullard said the company will meet Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to save its joint venture with Merafe Resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Phakamile Hlubi-Majola, spokesperson for the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), has warned<\/a> that rising electricity tariffs threaten to spark social unrest as workers bear the brunt of these escalating costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hlubi-Majola said the government has been slow to act on the tariff crisis, which has already devastated the ferrocrome industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n NUMSA has accused the government of dragging its feet in resolving the electricity tariff crisis that has crippled the ferrocrome industry. The union has warned of possible mass action if urgent steps are not taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She explained that NUMSA has worked to bring stakeholders together to highlight the severity of the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom early on, once it became very clear to us that there was a challenge with the electricity tariff at Glencore, which was having a deep impact on their profits, the union got involved in trying to engage the government,\u201d Hlubi-Majola said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe wanted to see if Eskom could provide a tariff that would be more affordable\u2014a tariff that would not collapse them financially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Hlubi-Majola, electricity now accounts for more than 40% of production costs in the industry, a level she described as unsustainable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She added that job losses are already mounting. \u201cThis problem has resulted in the closure of smelters and already 2,000 jobs have been lost,\u201d she said, pointing to NUMSA\u2019s past protest actions to demand lower tariffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite this, companies such as Glencore and Alma Investments have not withdrawn retrenchment notices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs of this week, consultations with the CCMA on job cuts have begun, and just from those two companies alone, we\u2019re looking at over 2,100 jobs that could potentially be lost,\u201d she warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hlubi-Majola criticised the government for failing to act decisively despite assurances. \u201cOur understanding is that the cabinet has approved this,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo we are saying we don\u2019t understand why the minister is taking so long to implement. The longer they delay, the more it justifies these companies proceeding with their plans to retrench.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n NUMSA\u2019s members, she said, have lost patience. \u201cOur members have been saying for months now that they want to embark on rolling mass action over this issue,\u201d Hlubi-Majola explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey have given the government an opportunity, but now they\u2019ve reached a point of frustration. At some point, this rolling mass action will take place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She linked the crisis to what she described as a failed neoliberal agenda. \u201cEskom has been turned into a privatised entity, and the cost of privatisation is exactly what we\u2019re discussing now,\u201d Hlubi-Majola argued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are facing high levels of job cuts because the tariff has become so exceedingly expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She contrasted South Africa\u2019s approach with China\u2019s, where heavy state subsidies for energy have supported industrial growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cChina has guaranteed cheap energy for industry and for domestic use, and now they are benefiting from that,\u201d Hlubi-Majola said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government has been warned that struggling businesses, as a result of high electricity prices, will lead to unrest in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":781237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[1164,22763,853,22809],"class_list":["post-838390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-eskom","tag-minister-of-electricity-and-energy-kgosientsho-ramokgopa","tag-south-africa","tag-the-national-union-of-metalworkers-of-south-africa-numsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838390","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=838390"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838394,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838390\/revisions\/838394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}South Africans have lost patience <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Eskom-electricity-price-pain-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n