South Africa’s workers in the petroleum sector said they were hopeful that talks with their employers later on Monday could end their strike over pay, which has severely affected fuel delivery.
“We have a meeting tonight [Monday] beginning at 8pm with the employers of the workers and we are hopeful that we are going to settle the dispute and end the strike,” a union spokesperson said.
“The strike is still on. But parties in the wage dispute have made progress in talks in the past days,” Welile Nolingo, secretary general of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppwawu), said.
The strike, which began last Monday, left motorists facing severe petrol shortages, with filling stations drying up, especially in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
The workers have demanded a 9,5% wage increase while employers initially offered 8%, Nolingo said.
He declined to say if the two parties have shifted on their offers during talks in the past few days.
Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica added to the hope expressed by the workers when she said in a statement on Monday that “an end to the strike in the liquid-fuels sector is in the offing”.
“I initiated meetings with both the employer and employee organisations last week to stress the importance of resolving this salary dispute as a matter of urgency. I can safely say that following these meetings, a resolution to the current dispute is imminent,” she said.
She urged members of the public to refrain from panic buying of fuel, adding that that there “is no fuel crisis in the country.”
Several large strikes in South Africa, by public-sector workers and others, have brought the country to a standstill this year with thousands of workers demanding higher wages.
Meanwhile, the chronic fuel shortages of the weekend were on Monday showing signs of easing with more filling stations dispensing fuel, unlike at the start of the weekend when most pumps ran dry because of tanker drivers were on strike. — AFP