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South Africa: Industrial action in trucking sector affects fuel supplies
The strike by truckers has mainly impacted transport and logistics companies.
“We are severely affected,” said Marius Swanepoel, chief executive of Imperial Holding’s logistics unit, whose fleet of 5,000 trucks hauls consumer goods and fuel.
“In some of our depots between 50 and 80 percent of our trucks are not on the road,” he added.
Rival Super Group is losing up to 6 million rand (US$720,000) a week, chief executive Peter Mountford told reporters.
“There are 3,000 trucks that are meant to be on the road but they are not,” he said.
Other affected companies include Grindrod, Barloworld and Bidvest. Mining and manufacturing groups said they could suffer if a prolonged strike cut deliveries of diesel used to run heavy machinery.
A long strike could also affect electricity supply in South Africa, which relies on coal for 85 percent of its power. Almost a third of coal is moved by trucks, power utility Eskom said.
