Trade union Solidarity says it is not only dismayed by GM’s recent announcement that it is leaving SA, but believe it happened because of SA’s downgrade to junk financial status which was brought on by Jacob Zuma’s poor governance.
The union says this move to cease manufacturing operations in South Africa happened because it did not provide General Motors with the returns required to support their global strategies and investments.
According to Marius Croucamp, Solidarity’s Deputy General Secretary for the Metal and Engineering Industry, GM’s withdrawal from the South African market comes as a ripple effect of Pres. Zuma’s ill-considered reshuffling of the cabinet in April this year. “We are beginning to see the negative impact of this downgrade. Fewer investments and lower economic growth are but the start,” Croucamp warned.
Solidarity is apprehensive about an exodus of other larger companies as a result of the poor political and economic policies that are currently in place. “The economic and social consequences of GM’s withdrawal give cause for major concern,” Croucamp said.
