KARIEGA – Concerns over the potential closure of Volkswagen Group Africa’s (VWGA) Kariega plant have intensified following media reports warning that more than 4 000 direct jobs could be at risk, along with tens of thousands more across South Africa’s automotive value chain.
According to Business Insider Africa, VWGA has voiced the “potential closure” of its Kariega manufacturing facility in the Eastern Cape, citing uncertainty around government industrial policy support. The report suggests that delays in critical policy decisions have placed the future of the plant in question.
Reacting to the reports, Sonja Boshoff, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, described the situation as a national crisis requiring urgent intervention from President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The President must act. South Africa cannot afford daily industrial decline, job losses and factory closures. The report that the Volkswagen Kariega plant in the Eastern Cape faces closure if the government does not urgently implement critical industrial policy is alarming,” Boshoff said.
She warned that without swift policy certainty, the threat of closure and the cascading job losses that would follow loom large.
“We do not need to get on such a drastic and slippery road. Our economy is too delicate and stagnant,” she added.
Boshoff said the Kariega plant has anchored manufacturing jobs for decades and driven exports from the Eastern Cape, demonstrating the value of the automotive sector as an engine of industrialisation and economic participation.
She cautioned that South Africa cannot “sit idly by while a marquee manufacturer considers shutting its doors”, noting that the country’s already high unemployment levels would be exacerbated by further factory closures.
Boshoff called on President Ramaphosa and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, to urgently engage with VWGA and broader industry leadership.
“It would be preferable if government would finalise the critical industrial policy decisions without delays and that should include support for the Automotive Industry Master Plan and clear measures to protect and grow local manufacturing,” she said.
“The future of South African manufacturing and the prosperity of thousands of working families depend on it. It is time to stop the proverbial presses and focus all our attention on this pending disaster,” Boshoff concluded.
Questions were sent to VWGA regarding reports that its Managing Director, Martina Biene, had written to Ramaphosa urging urgent changes to automotive industry policy.
Responding to the media claims, VWGA spokesperson Andile Dlamini said the company would not comment on the reports.
“Volkswagen is not commenting on the media reports which were published last week as they do not give the full context of our MD’s statement,” Dlamini said.
He added that Volkswagen and other original equipment manufacturers are continuously engaging with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition through naamsa to address urgent industry matters, including the review and implementation of South Africa’s automotive industry policy.
Novus Media
novanews.co.za
