By Ed Cropley
JOHANNESBURG Oct 7 (Reuters) – South African rail freight
operator Transnet is bracing for a one-day strike by
port and rail workers in support of a walkout by 20,000 truckers
that has hit fuel supplies round the economic hub of
Johannesburg and at least one car plant.
Large parts of South Africa’s gold and platinum mining
sectors have been brought to a standstill in the last two months
by a wave of wildcat labour unrest in which almost 50 people
have been killed — 34 of them by police.
State-owned Transnet said on Sunday it had been served with
a notice of a walkout “in a week’s time” by the SATAWU transport
union behind the two-week trucker stoppage, but did not say when
it might occur.
“We are considering the notice and will activate our
contingency measures to ensure minimal disruptions should the
action materialise,” Transnet said in a statement.
SATAWU spokesman Vincent Masoga said wage talks between
freight bosses and unions were scheduled to restart on Tuesday
after breaking down acrimoniously at the end of last week, but
the union was still gearing up for action.
“We’ve issued notices. It is going ahead. We are
mobilising,” Masoga said.
Top producer Anglo American Platinum fired 12,000
illegal strikers on Friday, raising fears of even more violence
around the “platinum belt” city of Rustenburg although the
weekend passed off largely without incident.
The mine strikes look set to knock already shaky economic
growth in Africa’s biggest economy and have already triggered a
sharp sell-off in the rand. The trucker strike, if it
persists, could have a far harsher and wider effect.
Continued…
