Industry braces for mass protest backlash

As South Africa prepares for what the South African Municipal Workers’ Union, Samwu, says is likely to be the biggest mass protest the country has seen in a decade or more on March 7, business has begun to express concern over the continued industrial action in the country. While President Jacob Zuma committed government to a country-wide infrastructure upgrade during his State of the Nation address in Parliament last week, concern over the impact of strikes on the economy is rising. Fanie Pretorius, chairman of the South African Shippers’ Council, this week said cargo owners were increasingly concerned about the impact of labour disputes and action on the economy. “South Africa can ill afford the strikes and labour action that we are having to deal with,” he said. “South Africa is competing in a global marketplace and we are competing with the Chinas of this world. With the logistics cost already much higher than the rest of the world, we cannot afford this continued labour action on various fronts.” He said the Shippers’ Council had already sent a letter to Transnet CEO, Brian Molefe, raising its concern over industrial action. The Durban container terminal ground to a near stop earlier this month due to strikes and an ongoing go-slow, and now the country is set to be rocked again on March 7 when Cosatu intends to protest over e-tolling and the use of labour brokers. “This protest action will set a precedent in terms of mass action. The working class and poor of this country will no longer sit back and be taken for granted,” said spokesman Tahir Sema. “Apart from scrapping the toll road projects, government must investigate who was responsible for steam-rollering these projects past all the relevant processes.”