After striking an agreement with workers who went on strike over salaries two weeks ago, TRANSNET, South Africa’s government-owned rail and ports operator, has partially lifted a force majeure at its harbours.
Following the resolution of the dispute, measures implemented for automotive, bulk, and multipurpose terminals were “being raised with immediate effect,” according to a statement from Transnet cited by Bloomberg News.
Following the employees’ industrial action, which ended earlier this week, Transnet is “implementing recovery plans to improve operational performance and efficiencies across its terminals,” the firm said in a statement.
The strike, started by the United National Transport Union on October 6 and joined by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union four days later, has affected exports of iron ore, coal, chrome and some agriculture products, said Bloomberg.
The Minerals Council South Africa estimated it cost mining companies about R815m a day. Fruit producers also expressed concern that their harvests will rot at the docks.
The strike is another blow to South Africa’s economy, which contracted 0.7% in the second quarter and may be in a technical recession, said Bloomberg News citing the BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index. Economic growth faces more headwinds from state-owned power utility Eskom which is implementing rolling electricity outages due to frequent breakdowns at its generation plants, it said.
