Johannesburg - South African President Kgalema Motlanthe urged the country's struggling auto industry to save jobs and chided rich countries for failing to tackle the global financial crisis with a coordinated response.
Motlanthe told South Africa's biggest union in the automobile industry that companies and unions must prioritise job protection and invest in training as they look for ways to surmount the economic crisis.
"I have no doubt that the industry as a collective would again join forces and come up with innovative ideas on how to weather the current storm," he told a National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) conference on job security.
South Africa's motor industry - one of the biggest in manufacturing and key for employment - has been badly hurt by the economic crisis. Component makers have appealed to the government for a R10bn rescue package.
Motlanthe, who will attend a G20 summit next month, also echoed comments by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel chiding rich countries for failing to agree on a coordinated response to the global financial crisis.
"Among others, the USA, the UK, China, Canada and Europe as a whole have exhibited disturbing signs of responding in an uncoordinated manner to the effects of this crisis," he said.
Plans to help car industry
G20 finance ministers meeting on Saturday in Britain sought to reassure struggling countries they could rely on international aid, but differed on what to do next about the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Motlanthe noted the global economic slowdown had hit South Africa's manufacturing sector hard and said it was impossible to predict when Africa's biggest economy would start to recover.
"The duration and depth of the downturn cannot be forecast with certainty, but growth is likely to be lower than previously expected at least in 2009 and 2010," Motlanthe said.
South Africa's economy contracted by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, the first fall in a decade, stoking recession worries. South Africa plans to spend about R787bn over the next three years to stimulate growth.
Manuel told South African radio on Friday the Treasury's February economic growth forecasts of 3.1% and 1.2% growth for 2008 and 2009 respectively, had taken into account trends seen in the fourth quarter, but acknowledged conditions had worsened since then.
The government is due to unveil plans to help the car sector and other struggling industries this month.
South African new vehicle sales plunged by 36.3% in February compared with the same month a year ago, its biggest monthly decline in more than two decades. Exports have also been hit as developed economies reel.
South Africa hosts operations of Toyota, General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW.
- Reuters