The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) welcomes the recent launch by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) of South Africa’s new Industrial Development Strategy.
At a broad level, SEIFSA supports the strategic intent of the document and welcomes renewed emphasis on industrialisation as a key lever for economic growth, employment creation and competitiveness. The strategy correctly recognises that a capable industrial base remains central to South Africa’s long-term economic resilience and developmental ambitions.
While constructive in our engagement, SEIFSA believes several important issues require further clarification and engagement.
Firstly, SEIFSA would have preferred a more consultative policy development process, particularly with stakeholders in the metals and engineering sector. Effective industrial policy is strongest when it is shaped through structured engagement between government, industry, labour and other social partners. A strategy of this significance will ultimately achieve greater legitimacy and practical relevance when it is co-developed with the industries it seeks to support.
The metals and engineering sector remains a foundational industry, enabling activity across mining, construction, energy, transport, manufacturing and infrastructure development. As such, policy affecting industrial development should benefit from direct input from this sector.
Secondly, having studied the document, SEIFSA’s initial assessment is that the strategy is strong in articulating broad principles and policy intentions, but thin on implementation detail. While the strategic direction is generally understandable, the document would benefit from a clearer long-term vision for re-industrialisation, supported by more explicit strategic priorities and measurable objectives that speak directly to rebuilding South Africa’s industrial capacity. Industry requires clarity on how the policy instruments, timelines, sequencing, institutional responsibilities and measurable deliverables will ultimately determine success.
Industry requires certainty, and certainty is communicated through clear policy direction and decisive implementation. Businesses make investment decisions based on confidence in the policy environment and on clear signals regarding government’s strategic priorities.
A further concern is the relationship between the Industrial Development Strategy and the existing sector master plans, particularly the Steel and Metal Fabrication Master Plan. There appears to be conflation between the role of the Master Plans and the new strategy. On the face of it, one might reasonably conclude that the Industrial Development Strategy is intended to replace the current Master Plan architecture. However, this has not been explicitly clarified.
This lack of clarity risks creating uncertainty regarding where industry should focus its engagement and where implementation efforts should be directed. This ambiguity is particularly evident when considering recent parliamentary processes, where industry stakeholders were convened under the framework of discussions relating to the Steel Master Plan. Such developments raise questions regarding the ongoing role, status and practical relevance of the Master Plans within the context of the newly launched strategy.
SEIFSA believes the next phase must focus on unpacking the industrial strategy into practical sector-specific roadmaps, with clear implementation milestones and accountability mechanisms. For the metals and engineering sector, this means focusing on the core enablers of competitiveness: affordable and reliable energy, logistics efficiency, infrastructure-led demand creation, effective trade measures, localisation, investment support and policy certainty.
SEIFSA remains committed to working with government and all stakeholders in refining and implementing the strategy.
