THANKS to the generosity of my colleague Moira - who spent the festive season in her native South Africa - I now have two bags of biltong in my desk draw.

If I ever need a quick savoury hit then a sliver of spicy, dry cured meat from Durban does the trick – although its super salty after taste is doing nothing to support my bid to drink less beer this month.

Biltong, similar to the conversations I’ve had with almost every South African I have met, makes for robust, no nonsense, take-me-as-you-find-me fare.

South Africa-born Cornelius Louwrens might have recently taken up British citizenship, but the adoptive Teessider has lost none of his countrymen’s reputation for straight-talking. This is a very good thing in my book.

As SSI UK business director and chief operations officer, Mr Louwrens is responsible for the former British Steel plant at Redcar.

As a business reporter you become accustomed to listening to bosses who waffle on about not very much; talk in meaningless jargon, or share meaty morsels off the record but fill your notepad with reams of bland pap about “synergies”, “economic headwinds” and “trading conditions in line with expectations.”

So, I savoured last Friday’s interview at Steel House. When I asked him how things were going at SSI Mr Louwrens responded with a typically blunt: “Right now we are in crisis.”

By “we” he means both the 2,000 jobs plant that he manages and the global steel industry.

In his 12 months in charge Mr Louwrens has become as familiar to crises as he is to biltong – a taste of home that he said his wife orders regularly by mail order.

Every time I have visited the Redcar plant since its blast furnace was relit in April 2011 it has either been recovering from or in the midst of another tough spell. It has also recorded some major milestones, set production records and continues to recruit workers, apprentices and graduate trainees.

Mr Louwrens, and his candid predecessor Phil Dryden, have given me unprecedented access to a company which carries the hopes of the community that fought for its survival.

Every few weeks I hear another rumour that the plant is doomed. It certainly struggles to pay its bills, as Mr Louwrens admitted. But it is still here, fighting for survival, and deserving of all our support.

“There is a bloody long road ahead, but we will get there,” concluded the refreshingly honest Mr Louwrens.

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