NUMSA STATEMENT ON ACELORMITTAL AND KUMBA DISPUTE

20 July 2010

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) notes the raging steel price war between ArcelorMittal and Kumba Iron Ore (mainly owned by Anglo American), which has been referred to mediation with the possibility of saving 4000 jobs that are now threatened.

We welcome the mediation process on this impasse, but Numsa remains deeply worried. We believe that such a strategic resource should never be the subject of a turf war for narrow, self-centered accumulation by these two imperialist owned entities. Already our economy has suffered as a result of the privatization of Iscor (now ArcelorMittal), by the high cost of steel which is crippling domestic manufacturing, and by the outflow of profits to the firms' headquarters in Luxembourg and London.

This dispute is another sign of the failure by our economy's managers, to transform the colonial character of our resource base. We recall the Freedom Charter, which mandated that the minerals beneath the soil and monopoly capital be transferred to the hands of our people as a whole. It is disheartening that exactly 16 years into our democratic dispensation the wealth of our country is still in the hands of multinational corporate executives. For how long are we going to outsource mineral resources to the manipulative profiteers, whilst the majority of our people live in economic conditions worse than apartheid?

With the Freedom Charter guiding us, we reiterate our call for the nationalization of ArcelorMittal, so that the ‘people shall share in the country's wealth'. Ongoing bickering by ArcelorMittal and Kumba provides our peoples' government, led by the revolutionary African National Congress (ANC), the rationale to take over ArcelorMittal. Along with many in the ANC and Alliance, we believe that the nationalization of strategic components of our economy will enable our government to deal decisively with the inherent underdevelopment and structural challenges of our economy, and transcend the period of pre-history dominated by capitalism and greed.

We call on our members who are threatened by ArcelorMittal with job losses to fight back militantly to retain their employment in the face of stubborn poverty levels and inequalities.

Statement issued by Castro Ngobese, NUMSA national spokesperson, July 20 2010

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter