Freight carriers trying to move freight into and out of the ports of South Africa are still running up against the picket lines of South Africa’s transport workers and disruptions in port services is causing South Africa’s import and export trade to virtually come to a halt. Apparently, last night the scheduled talks didn’t quite go as both parties probably hoped and at present there appears to be no light down the dark tunnel before this affair. This of course means that freight carrier movements in South Africa’s ports will continue to be slowed, at least until the sides in this affair can find some common ground upon which to stand together.
The port operator Transnet apparently told the unions that their demands for a 15 percent hike in their current pay structure wouldn’t be forth coming and this has had the expected result of the unions quickly telling their workers to continue their battle for their rights. The present offer by Transnet is apparently around 11 percent, so we might see the unions decide after awhile to accept this offer and go back to work. At this point however freight carrier services in the ports are apparently still managing to do a little business, but how much of this is true we have no idea at this point. Capacity at this point is really low and with no new meetings between Transnet and the unions currently set, it might be awhile before we see capacity in the ports of South Africa return to normal.