Industry voices concern over longer-term impact of ‘sporadic’ strikes

ALAN PEAT THE THREAT of strikes – many with serious accompanying violence – is becoming almost endemic in the transport, freight and trade industries. Last week’s nationwide strike against poverty and unemployment called by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) was a bit sporadic, but still put its own spanner in the works for freight logistics. There was general consensus that it was felt hardest in the mining industry, followed by car manufacturers, retailers and the textile industry. Although SA Port Operations (Sapo) chief operating officer Graham Braby was quoted in the press rather blandly saying that “there were limited disruptions to operations” at Durban and Port Elizabeth, a major link in the seafreight logistics chain was completely broken, with a lack of staff causing the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) to shut its doors for the day. All-in-all, this one-day protest strike – part of a series proposed by Cosatu – cost the country an estimated R2-billion. But the longer term cost for the freight and trading sectors is much bigger. A series of rather pointless strikes drastically changes the world’s perception of trading with SA, and global traders will tend to switch their allegiance to other, more reliable sources and destinations. Export orders are also lost by the barrow-load every time there’s industrial action in SA – because if orders are late, buyers’ businesses suffer from lack of stock, and they’ll look for other places to buy their goods. It costs everybody along the logistics chain from supplier to buyer, and even just the SA end of the chain loses billions every year in the short or longer term.