South African Firms Plan 10,000 Job Cuts as Economy Falters

(Bloomberg) --

South African companies have announced plans to cut more than 10,000 jobs less than three months into 2020 as faltering economic growth increases the strain in a country where a third of the workforce is unemployed.

Electronics company Ellies Holdings Ltd. is the latest to start the process of reducing its headcount due to ongoing financial losses. Jobs are also at risk at companies including Telkom SA SOC Ltd., the country's largest fixed-line operator, and Walmart Inc.'s local unit, Massmart Holdings Ltd., after slumps in earnings.

If realized, these job losses will add to an unemployment rate that is at the highest in at least 11 years, and place a further dampener on an economy stuck in the longest downward cycle since World War II.

South Africa fell into a second recession in consecutive years, data released by Statistics South Africa showed Tuesday, driven by state utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. implementing the deepest power cuts yet in December. The economy contracted by 1.4% in the last quarter of 2019, dragging down economic growth for the full year to 0.2% -- the slowest in a decade.

Read More: South Africa's Second Recession in Two Years Adds Pressure to Rates

--With assistance from Jacqueline Mackenzie and Rene Vollgraaff.

To contact the reporter on this story: Prinesha Naidoo in Johannesburg at pnaidoo7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Hilton Shone

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