South Africa’s final manganese smelter is bleeding jobs thanks to insane power bills. Transalloys, located in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, has issued a Section 189 retrenchment notice that could axe roughly 600 direct positions, a move CEO Konstantin Sadovnik directly attributes to unsustainable electricity costs from Eskom and negative profit margins. The company estimates up to 7,000 livelihoods, including workers’ families and supplier networks, depend on the plant, which is currently operating only two of its five furnaces due to financial strain.
Skyrocketing power tariffs and cheap global imports have pushed the operation into consistent losses, forcing management to consider a full restructuring that could begin early next year without immediate government intervention. Sadovnik has pleaded for urgent relief, specifically requesting lower electricity rates for energy-intensive industries, to prevent the complete collapse of local manganese alloy production. The potential job losses would devastate the local economy in a region already grappling with high unemployment.
This crisis at the nation’s last remaining smelter underscores a broader decline in South Africa’s manufacturing sector, where high operational expenses and international competition are shuttering local facilities. With consultations now underway, unions and workers face an uncertain future, hoping for a last-minute policy shift to preserve the plant and the community it sustains.
Skyrocketing power tariffs and cheap global imports have pushed the operation into consistent losses, forcing management to consider a full restructuring that could begin early next year without immediate government intervention. Sadovnik has pleaded for urgent relief, specifically requesting lower electricity rates for energy-intensive industries, to prevent the complete collapse of local manganese alloy production. The potential job losses would devastate the local economy in a region already grappling with high unemployment.
This crisis at the nation’s last remaining smelter underscores a broader decline in South Africa’s manufacturing sector, where high operational expenses and international competition are shuttering local facilities. With consultations now underway, unions and workers face an uncertain future, hoping for a last-minute policy shift to preserve the plant and the community it sustains.
