A wage strike at South Africa’s port and freight-rail operator that’s curbing mineral exports is set to worsen as members of more labor unions join the protest.
The United National Transport Union, the majority labor group at state-owned Transnet SOC Ltd., began the strike on Oct. 6. The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, the second-biggest employee group, and other smaller unions will also halt work from Monday, Cobus van Vuuren, Untu’s general secretary, said Sunday in an interview.
Transnet, which operates the nation’s industrial ports and freight rail network and fuel pipelines, has declared force majeure on shipments because of the labor action.
“Today all ports and freight rail are not expected to operate,” Busi Mavuso, the chief executive officer of lobby group Business Leadership South Africa, said in a note on Monday. “This is disastrous not only to obvious sectors linked to direct imports like the medical sector, and exports, like the mining sector, but to the entire, interconnected economy.”
Protesters staged a march near Transnet’s facilities at the Cape Town port as police observed from a distance. Cranes appeared to be at a standstill at the container terminal while few trucks entered or exited the vicinity.
Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. said the disruption will impact its 120,000 tons a day of export sales. Output will be hobbled by 50,000 tons a day for the first week of the strike and jump to 90,000 tons after that, according to a company statement.
Thungela Resources Ltd., South Africa’s biggest shipper of thermal coal, has said a prolonged strike of two weeks would curtail as much as 300,000 tons of export production. The movement of chrome, manganese and other bulk commodities will also be impacted.
Shares of Kumba fell as much as 3.9%, the most in a week, on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Monday, while those of Thungela dropped as much as 4.1%.
(By Paul Burkhardt)
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