More trucks go up in flames
Cape Town - At least
five trucks were torched across the Cape Peninsula and shots fired
during one incident on Friday, with police on high alert to maintain law
and order as authorities scrambled to keep pace with the attacks.
This was in spite of a second
court order issued by a Joburg court in a bid to stop the extreme
violence associated with the two-week truckers’ strike, which is said to
be costing the transport sector more than R1 billion in revenue every
week.
While the SA Transport and Allied
Workers Union (Satawu) has denied involvement in the violence, they
vowed yesterday to intensify the strike, calling on workers in the ports
and rail sector to conduct a secondary strike, which could severely hit
the country’s ports.
Police spokesman
Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut said there had been attacks “all over the
Peninsula” on Friday, with police officers deployed and on alert “to
keep law and order”.
He confirmed that three trucks
were torched in Philippi East, Nyanga and Gugulethu yesterday, and
another stoned in Philippi East.
Three people, including a child, were injured in an attack at Borcherds Quarry yesterday.
“It
was truck strike-related. The truck was stoned and then shots were
fired. We are investigating who fired the shots,” Traut said.
Late yesterday afternoon a fifth truck was torched on the N2, blocking the Airport Approach Road.
Dozens of similar incidents have been reported across the country since the strike began.
On Friday, the Road Freight
Association turned to the Johannesburg Labour Court in an attempt to
halt the strike by four unions, including Satawu, the Transport and
Allied Workers Union of SA, the Professional Transport and Allied
Workers Union, and the Motor Transport Workers Union.
While the attempt was
unsuccessful, an order was issued in respect of the first two unions,
which Road Freight Association executive officer Magretia
Brown-Engelbrecht said made it “tougher on the unions to continue with
irregular strike action”.
The other two unions did not come to an agreement, and their matter was postponed.
Satawu
spokesman Vincent Masoga confirmed they were planning to “intensify”
the strike by calling for a secondary strike by their members in the
ports and rail sector, to take place “some time next week”.
He did not know off-hand the number of members Satawu had in ports and railways, but said “we have lots of members there”.
The association said it had received no notice of a secondary strike, which would be “illegal and unprotected”.
Transnet said in response to queries that “our colleagues throughout are working as normal”.
Talks between the four unions,
which represent about 20 000 workers in the transport industry, and
employers deadlocked on Thursday after the union declined the latest
three-year offer of a 10 percent increase in the first year, 8 percent
in the second, and 9 percent in the third year.
Masoga said the offer did not meet their demand, and was no different from an earlier offer of 9 percent.
Brown-Engelbrecht
said the union’s failure to sign the agreement was “a breach of trust,
and threatens the institution of collective bargaining”.
Masoga said the union hoped the two parties would meet again, but they would strike indefinitely until their demands were met.
The Road Freight Association said
the strike was costing workers around R270 million in wages, and the
industry R1.2bn in turnover every week.
The strike is also starting to
harm deliveries of fuel, food and goods, with some petrol stations in
Johannesburg and Durban, in particular, running dry.
Shell said yesterday it had
declared force majeure – a contract clause that frees both parties from
liability if they cannot honour a contract to deliver fuel.
Meanwhile, SA retailers have reported mixed fortunes.
Pick n
Pay director Neal Quirk said there were some stock shortages as a result
of the strike, particularly in poultry and fresh produce.
“We are monitoring the situation on an hourly basis,” he said.
Woolworths said it had had some absenteeism, but had contingency plans in place to keep shops open.
Shoprite spokeswoman Sarita van Wyk said it had also not experienced “significant” shortages as a result of the strike.
Speaking yesterday during a SA
Chamber of Commerce and Industry event, President Jacob Zuma said the
strikes had impacted heavily on SA’s transport and mining industries.
“We should not seek to portray
ourselves as a nation that is perpetually fighting. We must create a
climate of constructive social dialogue, which South Africans are known
for,” he urged.
The
City of Cape Town said its waste removal contractor Waste Smart was also
participating in the strike, and did not collect rubbish as scheduled
on Friday.
It should, however, be collected
by the end of today, so residents of Fish Hoek, Philippi, Delft,
Somerset West, Gordons Bay, Strand and Melkbosstrand should leave their
bins outside. - Weekend Argus
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