The gloomy prospect of a further jobs bloodbath in the Northern Cape looks set to unfold following the ANC government’s failure to act on warnings about Transnet’s deteriorating rail and port infrastructure.
Yesterday, on the same day that we learned that the province’s expanded unemployment rate now stands at 42,9%, Kumba Iron Ore announced that it was likely to cut up to 490 jobs in line with reduced iron ore output. It attributed this to the country’s rail and ports crisis.
This will have a detrimental effect on many breadwinners in the mining sector in the Kathu region, who now stand to join the ranks of the thousands of unemployed people in our province.
The deteriorating state of the Northern Cape’s rail infrastructure has hardly gone unnoticed over the years. Anyone using the province’s roads can attest to the number of mining trucks on our roads. For years, alarm bells were ringing, as it was evident that this was bound to have an impact on the prevention of goods from our mines to our harbours for export.
Despite talk from government to shift back from road to rail, and the completion of the Mamathwane Crossing Loop in the Northern Cape, these efforts have proven to be too little too late.
The ANC government is strangling the economy and killing jobs and now hundreds more families risk falling into poverty.
A DA government would make infrastructure development a top priority, committing more money, not more hot air, towards restoring our transport infrastructure. The DA would also not waste time harnessing public-private partnerships to strengthen crucial transport infrastructure, spark industrial expansion and attract investment.
With the election date having been announced, the DA urges eligible voters who have not yet registered to vote to rescue the Northern Cape and South Africa from unemployment, to do so urgently, as there are only a few hours left to register.