adminCape Town — While production at South Africa’s oil refineries have continued despite an indefinite strike by workers demanding higher wages, motorists are battling to find petrol at some filling stations around the country. However, fuel retailers have urged motorists not to panic. Around 15 000 members affiliated to Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers’ union (Ceppwawu) launched the strike on Thursday, demanding a 9 percent wage hike and one-year deal, while employers were offering less.
“Refineries continue to produce,” South African Petroleum Industry Association executive director Avhapfani Tshifularo said.
Some parts of Gauteng province, the country’s commercial hub, which includes Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria, had faced some delays, he said. Drivers ferrying petrol from depots to service stations were being threatened, he said, but did not give details.
Intimidation by striking union members at a major petrol hub in Pretoria has brought the depot to a standstill, which has resulted in petrol stations running dry in northern Gauteng yesterday, Tshifularo in a telephonic interview.
Union officials were not available to comment.
Reggie Sibiya, chief executive officer at the Fuel Retailers’ Association, said mainly poorer areas were being affected by petrol delivery delays and disputed the claims of violence against the drivers. “Oil companies don’t want to go deliver there and are using safety as an excuse. It’s not because there is no product,” he said. — Fin24
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