Transnet strike costing SA ‘hundreds of millions of rands every day’

Logistics delays to the country’s supply chain, caused by the Transnet strike, costs the economy between R100 million and R1 billion per day.

This is according to the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF).

Workers at the state rail and port operator downed tools on Wednesday after wage negotiations deadlocked.

Labour unions, the United National Transport Union (Untu) and the SA Transport Workers Union (Satawu) rejected Transnet’s revised wage offer of 1.5% from this month, overtime pay and a 13th cheque, among other benefits.

The unions are demanding salary increases between 12% and 13.5%, but Transnet believes that its revised offer is reasonable and fair, and deserves serious consideration given the company’s current operational and financial performance.

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SAAFF said the negative impact of the strike on the wider economy was far higher.

“According to the latest Sars merchandise stats, R343 billion worth of goods were traded (imports and exports) by the country in August. If we consider that 70% of merchandise is processed via the ocean modality, the current inactivity blocks more than R8 billion worth of goods each day.

“Combined with the ripple effect, the impact is more than the country can absorb, given the current economic climate,” the association said on Saturday.

The organisation urged Transnet and the unions to resolve the impasse, adding that the strike was “throttling the economy to the point of no return”.

On Tuesday, Satawu served Transnet with a 48-hour notice to strike, the union plans to go on a full blown strike on Monday.

Transnet on Thursday said any strike action taking place presently is illegal and unprotected, as Untu had apparently not followed the prescripts as set down in the Labour Relations Act prior to embarking on strike.

Court interdict unsuccesful

Meanwhile, attempts by the company to interdict the labour action failed in court on Friday.

At the same time, Transnet has also applied to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to convene a conciliation process over the current wage negotiations.

The process is expected to commence on 12 October.

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