ArcelorMittal SA this week announced the closure of both its Vereeniging and Newcastle long steel plants – with an expected loss of 3 500 full-time and contractor jobs.

Both plants are large power users in their municipalities, and the loss of so many jobs and contractor positions will have a major knock-on effect down the economic chain – all the way down to thousands of individual account holders who cannot pay for lights and water.

ELM is already on the National Treasury”s Municipal debt relief programme for billions owed to Eskom  – recently brought down to about R5 billion after an almost R2 billion write-off by Treasury.

Now the winding down of the various sites affected by the decision will take place going forward, ArcelorMittal SA said in a statement and Sens announcement on Monday.

GTCoC President Jaco Verwey on Monday commended ArcelorMittal SA CEO Kobus Verster for delaying and seeking alternative remedies to the shuttering of the long steel plants in the interests of employees and contractors for so long – and ensuring that those affected could at least celebrate the Festive Season.

Verwey said the primary but not only reason for the close-downs was the lack of political will to save the South African steel industry – largely focused in the Vaal – in the midst of a clear crisis of de-industrialisation in South Africa.

It is believed that up to 200 permanent jobs and many more contractor jobs will be affected in the Vaal Triangle alone – largely concentrated in Vereeniging.

However, the shuttering will almost completely close down ArcelorMittal’s Newcastle Works in KwaZulu-Natal leading to devastating impacts on the town’s economic fortunes and thousands of job losses.

Reasons given for the long steel shuttering were declining revenue, low international steel prices, and steel exports declining by up to 40%.