The South African transport workers' strike is now in its third week and the transport authority, Transnet, has said that there will be no further negotiations following its final wage offer, which was rejected by workers on Friday (21 May).
There are, however, strong indications that increasing numbers of workers are returning to work and according to Transnet attendance figures reached 67 per cent over the weekend. Reports indicate that significantly more fruit was shipped through the country's container terminals over the weekend than the week before.
'We loaded in Cape Town on Saturday,' confirmed Andre van Blommenstein of Western Province Fresh.
The strike has caused enormous disruption in the South African fresh produce industry at a time when it is entering the peak of the season's apple and citrus shipments. It has also severely disrupted avocado shipments.
The country's largest avocado shipper, Westfalia Estates, said that it had resumed picking and packing and had been able to move some shipments, while also ensuring that it met its commitments to customers with supplies from Peru. 'Along with the negative exchange rate, this strike has made things very difficult for South African growers and exporters,' noted Westfalia's Louis Vorster.
Meanwhile, South Africa's Minister of Agriculture Tina Joemat-Pettersson warned that the fruit export industry was now suffering serious losses. 'Until last week we could still cope with the disruption, but this week we are expecting serious losses,' she told a media conference in Pretoria.
Transnet Executive Mark Gregg-Macdonald said that in its final offer the company reached the limit of what was reasonable and affordable in the present economic climate. 'We therefore appealed to workers to return to work and to avoid further financial suffering,' he said.
Mr Gregg-Macdonald added that the company had implemented the new wage package as well as all the benefits included in the wage offer.
Elsewhere, shipping line Maersk has defended its decision to implement a congestion surcharge during the strike, which in turn caused uproar in the fresh produce export industry. Fruit South Africa and its members rejected the surcharge and asked growers and exporters to refuse to pay it.
Maersk executive Mark Cairns said that there had been a significant impact on all shipping lines and the consequences (congestion, vessel schedules) of the strike would continue for some time.
'Additional costs will be incurred as we try to minimise the impact on our customers and ensure that cargo begins to flow as well, as vessels return to their expected schedules,' he explained.
After meeting with fruit South Africa’s Anton Rabe to discuss the fruit industry's angry response to the surcharge, Mr Cairns said the charge was due to the additional costs of fast steaming (additional bunkers used), time charter hire, equipment repositioning, equipment delays and turn times.
'This is an approximate amount that was calculated that will help to recover some of the costs incurred,' said Mr Cairns. 'We do not anticipate to fully recover all of the costs through this surcharge.
'We are aware of the impact to our customers and on the economy as a whole and will engage with all stakeholders in order to expedite the recovery of normal operations, thereby limiting the duration the charge is in effect,' he added.
Mr Cairns noted that after the strike has ended, Maersk will also engage with the relevant authorities to discuss what can be done to recover costs as well as how similar events can be prevented in future.
Hortgro spokesperson Erik van Papendorp, meanwhile, kept up the rhetoric by saying the first steps following the conclusion of the strike would be collective action to recover the cost of the disruption from guilty parties.
'Thereafter, we will work with other sectors of the industry, shipping lines and other stakeholders to implement a plan of action to limit the risk of a repeat of the 'circus' we witnessed now, and to hopefully do so through privatisation and introducing more competition,' he explained.
Observers have said it is likely that the strike will run its full course, but will lose some steam towards the end of the week as it nears its end.
