The minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau has revealed that South Africa’s manufacturing sector lost 45 995 jobs in two years.
He shared this information in response to a Parliamentary question from National Assembly member Siyabonga Gama. Gama asked Tau for details about the continuing deindustrialisation and manufacturing job losses in South Africa.
Tau stated that manufacturing employment increased by 11,103 jobs in the 2024 financial year, reaching a peak of 1.31 million workers. However, this positive performance was reversed, with the sector recording consecutive employment losses in the years that followed.
“South Africa lost 23,201 manufacturing jobs in the 2025 financial year and another 22,794 in the 2026 financial year. This equates to 45,995 jobs lost in two years. Over the three years from 2023 to 2026, manufacturing employment declined by a net 34,892 jobs, representing a 2.69% contraction relative to the baseline,” Tau said.
He added that this information, provided by Statistics South Africa, points to a structural and uneven contraction in manufacturing employment.
He also said the losses were concentrated in several industries, including the wood and paper-related industries, chemicals and plastics, furniture, and textiles.
“Together, these industries account for 31,429 jobs lost, or approximately 90% of the total net manufacturing employment decline,” he said.
He added that the contraction has been most severe in long steel production, particularly following the closure of Newcastle steelworks.
This resulted in the loss of approximately 3,500 direct jobs, with additional impacts across the supply chains.
When it comes to interventions to reignite manufacturing in SA, Tau said that the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition continues to implement trade and industrial policy measures to support industrialisation.
“Industrialisation is a shared responsibility that requires stronger collaboration among government, business, labour, educational institutions, and civil society,” he said.
“The plans will support investment, localisation, competitiveness, industrial expansion, and job creation,” he said.
The recently approved Industrial Development Strategy (IDS) also places manufacturing at the centre of South Africa’s industrialisation agenda.
“It focuses on strengthening domestic productive capacity through dynamic and competitive firms and sectors,” he said.
Complementing this strategy, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) continue to attract domestic and foreign investment.
These zones also support specialised industrial clusters, drive infrastructure development, promote technology transfer, and strengthen export performance.
Tau said there are numerous other interventions to strengthen productive capacity, deepen industrialisation, diversify exports, and attract investment.
“However, the success of the Industrial Development Strategy will depend on a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. We need active participation from business, labour, DFIs, state-owned entities, and civil society to drive sustained industrial growth and job creation.”
