South Africa’s industrial base is “disappearing before our eyes”, BusisiweMavuso, the CEOof BusinessLeadership South Africa, a business lobby group, has warned. She said the government must act urgently to stop the country’s deepening deindustrialisation crisis. 

Writing in her weekly newsletter, Mavuso said manufacturing still contributes roughly 12% of GDP and supports more than 1.5 million direct jobs, with many more linked through supply chains. But she warned that this foundation is being steadily eroded as manufacturers close, scale back, or choose other countries for new investment.

She pointed to the closure of Bridgestone and 13 other automotive component manufacturers over the past two years, as well as Nissan’s effective exit from manufacturing in South Africa after the sale of its Rosslyn plant to Chinese manufacturer Chery. The plant had built bakkies for more than 60 years.

Mavuso said the problem extends beyond the automotive industry, noting that British American Tobacco closed its remaining South African factory last year. She also pointed to Nissan’s recent $45 million investment to expand manufacturing capacity in Egypt, rather than South Africa, as a sign of how the country is losing the global contest for industrial investment.

Her central criticism was aimed at the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (DTIC). She argued that the DTIC should be the part of government helping manufacturers succeed, but is instead becoming a source of policy uncertainty.

Mavuso singled out proposed broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) amendments, which she said could strip companies of their BBBEE status because many suppliers are not 100% black-owned, despite years of work by manufacturers to build majority black-owned supply chains. She warned that automotive components cannot simply be replaced when policy rules change, because new suppliers take years to test, certify, and integrate into production lines.

She also said manufacturers are already facing expensive logistics, high energy costs, security problems, Asian dumping, illicit products, and regulatory instability. In that context, firms are making rational decisions to invest in countries such as Egypt, Vietnam, and Mexico rather than South Africa.

Mavuso called on the DTIC to withdraw the proposed BBBEE amendments, commit to regulatory stability, establish a manufacturing task force with monthly reporting to the president, and treat manufacturing as a whole-of-Cabinet responsibility involving energy, logistics, ports, and security.

“The urgency cannot be overstated,” she wrote, warning that every month without action means more boardroom decisions in Detroit, Tokyo, Stuttgart, and Shanghai going against South Africa.

Her warning is stark. South Africa is not merely failing to attract enough new industrial investment. It is losing the base it already has. Factories are closing, jobs are disappearing, and supply chains are being dismantled while government adds new uncertainty to the very sectors it claims to want to save.