In a country that is already battling high unemployment rates, it is hard to imagine the social effect of the looming job cuts at ArcelorMittal SA (https://www.sharenet.co.za/v3/quickshare.php?scode=ACL).

But given the rising input costs – electricity, rail and ports – and global steel oversupply, it would seem that job losses were inevitable. But that does not take away the fact that the layoffs will be devastating.

ArcelorMittal SA is a big contributor to economic development in towns such as Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging and Newcastle. In 2018, the company spent R14m on socioeconomic development and R30.4m on enterprise and supplier development. So if the company flounders, the effects will be widely felt. It is nothing short of a calamity that more than 2,000 employees could soon be unemployed. ..