Why Is Southern Africa’s Steel Manufacturing Declining If It Has Chrome and Iron?
Southern Africa holds some of the world’s most important minerals for steelmaking. South Africa alone dominates global chrome reserves and remains a major producer of iron ore, manganese, and vanadium. Yet despite this resource base and a once-strong industrial foundation, steel manufacturing in the region is in decline.In this second episode of The Africa Hour Season 2, we explore manufacturing: what it really means to make things locally – competitively and at scale. In conversation with experts from policy, academia, industry, and organised labour, we unpack the structural challenges shaping the chrome and steel sectors in both South Africa and Zimbabwe. From rising electricity costs and unreliable power supply to weak domestic demand, global overcapacity, and increasing imports, the pressures are deeply interconnected.We then turn to the question of green manufacturing, examining what it would take to produce steel in a way that is both competitive and climate responsible, and how energy systems and evolving global regulations are redefining the terms of industrial competitiveness.Guests:Lufuno Munzhelele is Principal Analyst at the South African Iron & Steel Institute, specialising in steel markets, trade policy, and industrial sustainability. She provides market intelligence and policy analysis shaping the sector’s development. With over a decade of experience in trade investigations and industrial policy advisory, she has worked with industry, government, and development finance institutions to strengthen local steel value chains and competitiveness. She holds a Master of Commerce in Development Economics.Kuda Manjonjo is a Just Transition Advisor at PowerShift Africa, with experience spanning civil society engagement, community organising, and academia. His work focuses on monitoring and evaluation, research, and advocacy. He holds degrees in Labour and Globalization, Political Science from the University of Zimbabwe, and Labour and Economic Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand, and is currently pursuing a PhD.Leanne Govindsamy is a human rights and environmental lawyer with 16 years of experience across law, policy reform, litigation, research, and advocacy. She previously led the Corporate Accountability and Transparency programme at the Centre for Environmental Rights and helped establish the Fair Finance Coalition Southern Africa and the Fair Steel Coalition. Her past roles include a clerkship at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, legal practice at Cheadle Thompson and Haysom, and Head of Legal and Investigations at Corruption Watch. She holds an LLM from the University of Notre Dame, as well as an LLB and a Master’s in Anthropology from the University of the Witwatersrand.Wouter Bam is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. He previously held an Associate Professorship at Stellenbosch University. His research focuses on industrial policy, particularly mineral-based development in Africa. He holds a joint PhD from KU Leuven and Stellenbosch University, a master’s from the University of Cambridge, and a BEng from Stellenbosch University.Tengo Tengela is Trade and Industry Policy Coordinator within the COSATU Policy Unit. He previously worked at the NUMSA Policy and Research Institute and as a Parliamentary Officer with the NEHAWU Parliamentary Office. He represents organised labour in social dialogue institutions, including NEDLAC’s Trade and Industry and Fiscal and Monetary Policy Chambers.Further readings:Inside the Manhize Blueprint: How Zimbabwe is Betting on The Steel Industry to drive Industrialization by PowerShift Africa A Just Steel Transition by Leanne Govindsamy for the Centre for Environmental Rights ArcelorMittal South Africa to cease long steel production by April by Reuters Greening China’s ‘brown steel’ investments in Zimbabwe by Kuda ManjonjoBeneficiation might not be a silver bullet by W. Bam W. & K. de Bruyne
