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As Transnet wage strike hits ports, business warns that SA risks economic 'collapse'

Details

blsa thumb medium70 98Fin24 reports that while Transnet has maintained that its terminals at ports have not come to a standstill, logistics businesses have warned of a catastrophic economic fallout if operations at the state-owned logistics company’s ports in Durban and Cape Town face prolonged suspension.

As the wage strike by labour at Transnet got into full swing on Monday morning, the industrial action set off jitters that bottlenecks would occur at the ports, costing businesses and the economy billions. The United National Transport Union (UNTU) kicked off its strike last Thursday and the SA Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) followed suit by downing tools on Monday. Transnet spokesperson Ayanda Shezi said on Monday that while there were labour challenges, the ports were made up of multiple terminals with various owners. "There are terminals that are owned by Transnet, and terminals that are owned by private sector operators. The current strike is between Transnet and its unions. This does not include private sector-run terminals. All private sector operated terminals in all the ports are operating at 100%... Even the Transnet-run terminals have been handling cargo although at a reduced tempo. So it's incorrect to say the ports have come to a standstill," claimed Shezi. However, Business Leadership SA (BLSA) CEO Busisiwe Mavuso noted that the mining sector had already lost an estimated R50 billion so far this year due to Transnet's deteriorating performance, "The Transnet strike is going to cost the economy billions. It is going to set back our efforts to drive a recovery. It will damage government revenue, robbing it of the resources needed to provide poverty relief," said Mavuso. Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly said that as far as he was aware "there was no movement of trade" at the ports.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Fin24
  • Read too, ‘The Transnet strike is going to cost the economy billions’, at Moneyweb
  • And also, BLSA, Seifsa, SAAFF warn of Transnet strike's impact on the struggling economy, at Mining Weekly


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