Johannesburg - One of the two US-based vehicle manufacturers with production facilities in South Africa is under pressure from its head office to close its local operations because of the labour environment, claims the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa).
Ford and General Motors (GM) are the only two vehicle manufacturers in South Africa whose parent companies are based in the US.
However, both Ford and GM denied their chief executives had made such a statement to Seifsa.
Denise van Huyssteen, the communications manager for GM sub-Saharan Africa, said yesterday she had spoken to Mario Spangenberg, the president of GM Africa, who confirmed that he did not make these comments to Seifsa and that GM remained committed to growing its business in South Africa.
Rella Bernardes, the communications general manager for the Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa, said its president and chief executive, Jeff Nemeth, denied making any such statement to Seifsa.
In a press statement issued yesterday by Seifsa, the federation’s chief executive, Kaizer Nyatsumba, said he had received a call from an unnamed chief executive of a major car manufacturing company based in South Africa, who expressed concern about the impact of the strike on his company.