Trade costs of R7 billion were incurred by businesses over the 11 days of industrial action by workers at logistics utility Transnet, while South Africa lost the opportunity of moving R65.3bn worth of goods.
That’s according to a post-strike assessment sent out by the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) earlier today.
In the statement, Saaff CEO Dr Juanita Maree lamented the damage done to the country’s economy by members of the striking unions – the United National Transport Union and the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union.
Reflecting on goods that could have been exported but weren’t, she said: “Some of that will possibly move later, but the rest is gone and gone forever.”
Maree said it was unfortunate that the “interests of SA Inc had not been considered (knowingly or unknowingly) during the time of the strike”.
“Considering that the wage increase cost – if adopted across the board for all workers at Transnet – is, in relative terms, a mere R1.5bn, we need to realise the consequences of actions from all parties,” she added.
“It is imperative to work together and have the interests of SA Inc in all our minds at all times.”
Saaff said it “calls on the need for growing maturity in resolving matters amicably, in a timely and efficient manner, to strengthen partnerships between government and strategic stakeholders through early consultation to enable prevention rather than cure, as risk mitigation is our joint responsibility to the smooth running of our national economy.
“We must learn the stark lessons provided by these operational disasters, or we are going down an endless spiral with the worst possible outcome. Our late President Nelson Mandela created the social compact comprising business, labour, and government, which means we need to work together to achieve our mutual goals in this compact; for the logistics industry, that means trade must occur using shared infrastructure with shared responsibilities from all parties.”
Saaff added that “if goods can't move, the economy stops.
“And if the economy stops, the impact is hugely negative for anything related to the movement of cargo – including time, cost, and service reliability. With the economy's circular flow, ordinary South Africans will suffer in the end – the very individuals who went on strike against a wage offer way below the inflation figure.
“While Saaff is very pleased that an agreement has finally been reached, we must stress that the hard work only starts now, as, according to our consolidated reports, most port terminals are operating at productivity levels that are somewhere between medium and normal levels. So, although it might seem that we are making a return to full operational status, we are certainly not there yet.”
