MISA demands an End‑of‑Life Vehicle Strategy focusing on protecting jobs and creating more
1 September 2026
For Immediate Release
MISA, The Motor Industry Staff Association, has called on the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) to urgently establish a worker-centred End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) regulatory framework that would protect existing jobs and creates thousands of more jobs.
Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer: Operations, says MISA presented its position at a dtic workshop attended by key automotive stakeholders and a delegation from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Sandton.
An ELV framework is a legal system that ensures vehicles at the end of their lifespan are depolluted, dismantled and recycled. Without such a framework, South Africa risks losing access to its largest export market. Roughly three out of every four vehicles exported from South Africa are destined for Europe, where new vehicle circularity rules being finalised by the European Union will require recycled materials, circular design and full lifecycle responsibility from manufacturers. Failure to comply could lock South African vehicles out of Europe, threatening export revenue of R291 billion and hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The automotive sector contributes 5.2% to South Africa’s GDP and sustains close to 500,000 formal jobs across the value chain. MISA is the largest trade union in the retail motor industry and believes that the ELV framework must not only protect exports but also create decent, formal jobs with enforceable wage floors, collective bargaining coverage and occupational health and safety standards.
“MISA will not accept a framework that treats workers as an afterthought. Every dismantler, recycler, and technician must have safe working conditions, recognised qualifications and career pathways. This is about protecting livelihoods today and building sustainable jobs for tomorrow,” says Keyter.
MISA has also stressed the importance of transition support for informal operators and existing workers, ensuring that formalisation lifts people up rather than locking them out. The union has requested Japanese expertise on worker safety, training systems, and the viability of small dismantlers, drawing on Japan’s Automobile Recycling Law, which sustains thousands of small enterprises and achieves recovery rates of close to 99%.
South Africa’s automotive future depends on urgent alignment with global circular economy rules. For MISA, the message is clear: the ELV framework must protect both the environment and the workers who keep the industry alive.
Issued by Sonja Carstens, Manager of MISA’s Media & Communication Department, on behalf of the Union.
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