SOUTH AFRICA/FILE: A third of South African truckers end strike as more miners get sacked

Record ID: 340926

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA/FILE: A third of South African truckers end strike as more miners get sacked
  • Date: 10th October 2012
  • Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (OCTOBER 9, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF NEDBANK NEDBANK SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (English) ECONOMIST WITH NEDBANK CAPITAL, MOHAMMED NALLA, SAYING: "The impact of these strikes on the economy is likely to filter through not only just in the mining sector but filtering through the manufacturing sector. Collectively those two make a fifth of the South A
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Employment,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1QOEEV1SAG3YBUG4SUY9O62CK
  • Story Text: About a third of striking South African truckers on Tuesday (October 9) agreed to return to work on Wednesday (October 10), easing pressure on Africa's biggest economy where two weeks of labour unrest in the transport sector have hit supplies of fuel, cash and consumer goods.
    Meanwhile, more mining companies have resorted to firing miners for taking part in illegal strikes, a response to rein in labour unrest that has swept the country.
    Bokoni Platinum mine sacked more than 2,000 miners and junior gold miner Gold One International dismissed about 1,435 people - most of its workforce - at its Ezulwini operation.
    Tuesday's decision by three small unions puts pressure on the biggest labour group, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), which represents about 28,000 workers, to reach a deal and suspend its calls to widen the strike to ports and rails.
    It also eased investors' concerns about widening strikes that could slow growth.
    The rand, which fell to three and a half year low against the dollar on Monday amid worsening investor sentiment about labour strife, rallied immediately after the news truckers would return to work, hitting a session high of 8.735.
    Mohammed Nalla, an economist at Nedbank Capital, said the strikes will have a long lasting impact on the South African economy.
    "The impact of these strikes on the economy likely to filter through not only just in the mining sector but filtering through the manufacturing sector. Collectively those two make a fifth of the South African economy and the knock on drag that that's going to imply with South African GDP means that we are likely going to be seeing a huge revision downward in terms of South Africa growth for this year. We are certainly seeing that from the IMF overnight where they downgraded the outlook for South African growth, so we are going be stuck with high inflation, lower growth and again like I say, unease with regards to what is actually going to materialise before that leadership conference," said Nalla.
    President Jacob Zuma's ruling African National Congress has been criticised for letting the strikes spread and has raised questions about the President's leadership and tarnished South Africa's reputation among foreign investors, with ANC leaders seemingly more preoccupied with an internal leadership election at the end of the year than the labour strife.
    "President Zuma can see all of this, but he is ignoring it. Does he want us to die like the people in Marikana before he can act? He has heard that we have been kicked out of the mine and we have nowhere to go. What is he saying with all of this," said striking miner Sandile Diko.
    The Government has been criticised for spending 27-million USD to refurbish Zuma's private residence in Nkandla.
    "In my opinion the president is only working towards developing the area he comes from and does not care about anyone else," said Johannesburg resident Betty Thipe.
    Moody's ratings agency downgraded South African government bonds a notch last month saying ineffectual governance was posing long term economic risk.
    Large parts of the mining sector, responsible for about six percent of gross domestic product, have been brought to a standstill in the last two months by wildcat strikes by more than 75,000 miners - about 15 percent of thje mining workforce.
    Almost 50 people have been killed in the current labour strife - 34 of them by shot dead by police on August 16 in the deadliest security incident since the end of apartheid in 1994.
    Thousands of striking truck drivers have taken to the streets in often violent protests demanding annual wage increases of 12 percent for two years - more than double the inflation rate.
    Employers have offered a total pay rise of 18 percent over that period. It held wage talks with SATAWU on Tuesday.
    An employers body said last week the freight industry was losing around 1.2 billion rand ($135 million) in turnover each week due to the strike.
    "Structurally we are heading in the wrong directing. The South African economy whilst we been sound over the last ten to fifteen years, certainly doesn't look as though it is on a strong footing right now. So I think it is bigger than the Julius Malema factor. He serves as an early warning system to international investors, they then drill a little bit deeper and then making their decisions on what they see manifest in the underlying economy," said Nalla.
    The ruling party's rebel, Julius Malema, has been touring mines spreading a gospel to strike for higher wages and taking jabs at president Zuma.
    Malema addressed about 100 striking miners in Virginia.
    "It is only in South Africa where 200 million can disappear and nothing happens. Only here, we are not talking about the intention to build, they have already built the house. It is complete. The house has bunkers that lead to the bedrooms underground," said Malema.
    The mining strikes look set to knock already shaky economic growth in the world's top platinum-producing state. South Africa is also a major supplier of gold, coal and iron ore.
    On Monday, a local government workers' union said it also planned a protest in the next few days in a first sign of the labour unrest spreading into the public sector
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