Two major fuel refineries producing 380 000 barrels a day have been shut down as the chemical industry strike entered its fifth day on Friday.
Meanwhile, the mining industry is bracing itself for a massive strike after unions this week declared a dispute with the Chamber of Mines.
Welile Nolingo, the general secretary of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu), and other industry sources on Thursday confirmed the shutdown of the two biggest fuel refineries, Chevron and Sapref. But representatives from both companies insisted that operations were normal.
The closures are likely to worsen the shortage of petrol in the country and will have a major impact on the country’s economy.
On Wednesday state-owned Petro SA shut its 36 000 barrels per day Mossel Bay gas-to-liquid plant as a result of the strike by 45 000 Ceppwawu members.
On Thursday petroleum company BP said petrol pumps in some outlets around the country had started to run dry.
BP spokesperson Zipporah Mothoa said delivery of stocks to petrol outlets had been “gravely impacted because workers in the distribution chain were on strike”.
Ceppwawu said it had been inundated with calls from motorists complaining about the shortage of petrol at several stations.
“While petroleum employers are denying that this is as a direct result of the strike action, we know that because our members at the petrol distribution outlets joined the strike, there are no trucks delivering petrol to the petrol stations,” the union said.
South Africa has six refineries. Those that are not affected include Sasol, the world’s biggest coal-to-fuel maker, petrochemical group Natref in Sasolburg and the Engen refinery in Durban.
Workers in the chemical sector, which includes pharmaceutical, tissue, glass and cardboard companies, have been on strike since Monday this week.
Nolingo said the strike had had a major impact on the pharmaceutical industry, which could result in a shortage of medicines across the country.
The dispute in the mining industry came after a month of negotiations between the unions and the Chamber of Mines had failed to produce results.
The National Union of Mineworkers, the largest union in the industry, and Solidarity threatened to withdraw their labour if employers failed to meet their demands.
Workers are demanding a 15% increase while the employers are offering a 7,75% increase.
“We believe that the Chamber of Mines has tested our patience long enough and our workers will haunt the profit they make out of the workers’ sweat,” said NUM general secretary Frans Baleni.
Solidarity’s Reint Dykema said: “Workers experience daily increases in their cost of living. The latest food inflation rate for June comes to 9,4%. In addition, housing costs have increased significantly. All these factors put the workers under great financial strain. The gold mines are doing well and there are substantial long-term plans for increased production. It only stands to reason that structural adjustments must be made to accommodate the workers.”
Elize Strydom, the Chamber of Mines’ chief negotiator, said good progress had been made despite the union declaring the dispute.
She said, in addition to the 7,75% offer, the chamber offered a new basic wage of R4 000 for rock drillers, an increase in the living-out allowance from R1 000 to R1 200, a minimum underground wage of R3 000 per month and an increase of 8,75% in the basic wages for certain categories of artisans in short supply.
Running out of tyres
The supply of cars in the country could soon come to a halt as motor manufacturers are beginning to run out of tyres because of the strike by more than 6 000 members of metalworkers’ union Numsa.
Workers at the country’s major tyre manufacturers, such as Firestone, Goodyear and Continental, have been on strike for two weeks over wage pay.
Denis van Huyssteen, communi-cations manager at General Motors, said the company could soon stop production if the strike continued for much longer.
“At the moment, we have not seen the impact because we still have some stock. But the longer the strike takes, the greater the probability of the impact,” said Van Huyssteen.