The Minerals Council of South Africa said it is bleeding R800 million for every day the Transnet strike continues and called for a “speedy resolution.” On Thursday, unions rejected the parastatal’s latest wage offer.
MINING SECTOR COUNTS LOSSES DURING TRANSNET STRIKE
The Council said its members account for more than 80% of Transnet’s rail business and 50% of the company’s income.
It estimates that bulk exporters are losing R815 million in export revenue per day because they are unable to load 357 000 tonnes of iron ore, coal, chrome, ferrochrome and manganese onto ships.
“On average, South Africa exports about 476 000 tonnes of bulk minerals a day worth R1.06 billion. We estimate that just 120 000 tonnes of minerals worth R261 million are being exported daily,” said the Council.
Mineral export harbours are currently operating at between 12 % and 30% of their daily averages, according to the body.
The council said understands the cost-of-living challenges facing Transnet employees and called for trade unions and the freight and rail company to “find a rapid resolution” to the strike as it is in the national interest.
As previously reported on Thursday, recognised unions – the United National Transport Union (UNTU) and the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) – ejected Transnet’s latest three-year wage offer.
“Transnet has again just juggled the numbers to make the offer look differently, quite frankly it actually looks worse at face value… The actual improvement in salaries of the members (taking all things into consideration) is still very far away from a CPI-related increase for the members,” said UNTU general secretary, Cobus van Vuuren.
READ MORE: Transnet strike: Gunmen open fire on staff bus as unions reject latest offer
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