Another localisation supporter is the Steel Tube Export Association of SA. Its CEO, Keitumetse Moumakoe, told Business Day that the government needed to ensure that localisation benefited small companies.
Moumakoe supported the recently signed steel industry master plan. He said that, instead of being a large importer of semi-finished and finished steel products that were manufactured locally, South Africa should switch to being a competitive exporter of these products.
Localisation reduced barriers of entry because steel resources would be readily available to micro enterprises that supplied public projects, Moumakoe said. He called for more local procurement in the steel supply chain.
In an article that gave ample space to opponents of localisation, the newspaper also quoted Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association in support of the policy.
Breitenbach said localisation is practised by all successful countries. Brazil allows less than 1% of chicken imports, the US less than 2% and the EU less than 3%, he said. This is a reference to the fact that imports comprise between 20% and 25% of the South African chicken market.
Localisation is a key part of both the steel and poultry industry master plans, which aim to reduce the import market share, and expand local production and job creation.
