The PetroSA plant outside Mossel Bay was calm on Monday morning after it was hit by a strike last week, Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie said.
He said police had set up a joint operations centre along with the parastatal at the plant, which has been shut down for annual cleaning and maintenance, to monitor the situation.
”It’s quiet, it’s calm,” Pojie said.
”We do have resources on standby if an incident occurs that needs urgent attention or intervention.”
He said that though the atmosphere at the plant was ”tense” last week during the labour unrest, there were no incidents.
The plant began the shutdown on Monday last week, according to the union Solidarity’s senior organiser in the Southern Cape, Jan du Plessis.
He said that late on Thursday afternoon almost all of the about 2 000 workers brought in by contractors to carry out the maintenance, downed tools.
Though Solidarity did not have members among those contract workers, he gathered their grievances were about wages, and the quality of food and housing they received in their temporary quarters adjacent to the plant.
The strike had continued the whole of Friday, accompanied by meetings with contractors and PetroSA managers.
”They all went back to work this morning, but they’re not happy at all,” he said.
Du Plessis said members of the plant’s security force had also threatened to strike, but an agreement had been reached that averted this.
The security force is permanently at the plant, although they work for a contractor.
PetroSA was looking at ”better options in terms of food, housing and so on”, he said.
PetroSA spokesperson Butana Nkosi was not immediately available for comment.
According to Du Plessis, the shutdown was scheduled to last five or six weeks.
It is not known how the labour unrest will affect the operation.
The plant, on a 770ha site, converts natural methane—rich gas and condensate from wells in the sea bed off Mossel Bay into fuels and other high—value products.
PetroSA produces about 8% of South Africa’s liquid fuel requirements. Its output is distributed through oil companies under their own brand names in the Southern Cape and parts of the Northern and Eastern Cape.
The production capacity of the plant is equivalent to a crude oil refining capacity of approximately 50 000 barrels per day. — Sapa