Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has warned that the ongoing Transnet port and rail worker strike is tantamount to “sabotage” as it is “throttling” the economy to a point where it may not be able to recover.
BLSA CEO Busisiwe Mavuso told Eye Witness News (EWN) on Wednesday that business leaders were concerned that the strike may be the final nail in the coffin of an already limping economy.
Thousands of port and rail workers employed by Transnet downed tools last Thursday, rejecting the employer’s wage offer of between 3% and 4%, and demanding pay hikes of between 12% and 13.5%.
Transnet is currently engaged in wage negotiations with the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) and the United Transport Union (Untu), facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
Mavuso said business leaders were worried about the impact of the strike on the economy and she criticised the trade unions for asking for such high wage increases in the current economic climate.
"It is the most appalling act of economic sabotage we are seeing. It is throttling our economy to the point of no return. It’s going to have a dire impact on our fragile economy,” Mavuso said.
She added that Covid-19, the July unrest, load-shedding and the KwaZulu-Natal floods in April had already dealt blows to the economy. The Transnet strike would cost the country billions of rands and set back the country’s economic recovery efforts.
"All of this against the backdrop of low growth, high unemployment, and rising living costs - we are really doing an injustice to ordinary South Africans. So, if we thought we were going to be able to arrest the 43% unemployment in terms of the expanded definition, I think that that just pushes us away further from that target,” Mavuso told EWN.
She added that the strike was also marring the country’s appeal to investors and sent the message that it could not provide the basic services needed to operate locally.
Mavuso’s concerns echo the fears raised by exporters across the country over the past few days.
