Media Statement

The African National Congress welcomes the decisive intervention led by the Minister of Electricity and Energy to stabilise the ferrochrome smelting industry. The ANC views this intervention as a practical demonstration of what the 10 Point Economic Action Plan calls for, namely an active developmental state that uses coordinated action, targeted price and infrastructure measures, and social partnership to protect productive capacity, safeguard jobs, and advance inclusive growth.

The 10 Point Economic Action Plan is explicit that the economy cannot be rebuilt without confronting binding constraints in the electricity system and without decisive action to support strategic, energy intensive sectors that sustain exports, regional economies, and industrial employment. The ferrochrome value chain is precisely such a sector, it is deeply embedded in local economies, it supports thousands of jobs directly and indirectly, and it anchors industrial capability that cannot be replaced quickly once lost. The Minister’s intervention therefore advances the Movement’s core priority, to defend and grow employment, while strengthening the foundations for industrial led growth.

The African National Congress further notes that this intervention reflects a disciplined approach to inclusive growth, balancing affordability and competitiveness on the one hand, with the financial sustainability and integrity of the electricity supply industry on the other. It reinforces a central principle of the 10 Point Economic Action Plan, that reform must be rules based and implementable, and that short term stabilisation must be translated into durable structural solutions. In this regard, the ANC supports the development of a transparent long term pricing framework that protects jobs and export competitiveness, while respecting the independent regulatory role of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa and ensuring fairness across consumers.

We welcome the cooperative posture demonstrated through structured engagement between government, Eskom, industry and organised labour. This is consistent with the Movement’s commitment to social compacting as a practical instrument to resolve economic bottlenecks, to rebuild productive capacity, and to ensure that workers and communities are not treated as an afterthought in industrial restructuring.The African National Congress calls on all social partners to sustain this cooperative approach, to move from immediate stabilisation to a long-term competitiveness pathway that is anchored in job retention, localisation, and industrial deepening. The ANC will continue to support interventions that translate policy into tangible outcomes, protecting jobs, strengthening the industrial base, and advancing inclusive economic growth.

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