Industrial areas across Buffalo City were deserted yesterday as workers struggled to get to their workplaces and those who succeeded were sent home by factory bosses.
Production losses for the day were expected to run to many millions of rand.
Most companies reported that, with workers arriving in “dribs and drabs” it didn’t make sense to keep production lines open.
At other plants, telephone calls either went unanswered or were re-directed to security staff who reported that the remaining staff had been sent home earlier in the day.
Border-Kei Chamber of Business executive director Les Holbrook strongly condemned the taxi shutdown, saying that while the issue of operating licences was a legitimate one, not all efforts to resolve the impasse had been exhausted before the decision was taken to shut down the metro.
Holbrook said many industries could not operate without 100% attendance by workers, because of integrated production processes.
This is what prompted the decision by automotive assembler Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) to shut down its West Bank operations entirely – anything less than perfect attendance would have a significant impact on production.
And almost all of those affected – hourly-paid or contract workers – would have their wages docked because of “no work, no pay” policies.
Wilsonia-based electronics manufacturer Vektronix was among the businesses which took an early decision to shut up shop yesterday.
MBSA said on Thursday it had decided to suspend production for yesterday because of the large number of its 5200 workers who use taxi services to get to work.
While the plant closure would have had a knock-on effect on suppliers to MBSA’s R65.8-billion operation, workers at automotive component companies in any case also found themselves on the wrong side of the taxi blockades in their efforts to get to work.
The East London Industrial Development Zone was almost totally deserted as employees at tenant firms failed to arrive. By late morning, even administrative staff at the operating company called it a day.
Ikwezi group of companies executive director Pieter Bosch, who employs 160 people across various businesses, said no meaningful production was possible and those employees who had arrived for work were sent home.
Although he expressed sympathy for the underlying causes, Bosch was scathing about the taxi shutdown of the metro, saying it was fuelled by outside influences, denied people freedom of choice and was “a sad state of affairs”.
At Foxtec-Ikhwezi, which supplies suspension components to MBSA, only three employees out of the workforce of 28 were able to arrive at work yesterday and were sent home. Based on previous media reports, Foxtec-Ikhwezi’s loss for the day in turnover could reach R1.5-million.
The chamber’s Holbrook estimated that between 40% and 70% of retail staff in the metro would have been prevented from getting to work and although there were challenges, the sector was functioning.
Numsa organiser Mteteleli Tshete confirmed that the union’s members, who dominate the automotive sector in the province, would not be paid.
TAXI SHUTDOWN: Strike paralyses metro production
Production losses for the day were expected to run to many millions of rand.
Most companies reported that, with workers arriving in “dribs and drabs” it didn’t make sense to keep production lines open.
At other plants, telephone calls either went unanswered or were re-directed to security staff who reported that the remaining staff had been sent home earlier in the day.
Border-Kei Chamber of Business executive director Les Holbrook strongly condemned the taxi shutdown, saying that while the issue of operating licences was a legitimate one, not all efforts to resolve the impasse had been exhausted before the decision was taken to shut down the metro.
Holbrook said many industries could not operate without 100% attendance by workers, because of integrated production processes.
This is what prompted the decision by automotive assembler Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) to shut down its West Bank operations entirely – anything less than perfect attendance would have a significant impact on production.
And almost all of those affected – hourly-paid or contract workers – would have their wages docked because of “no work, no pay” policies.
Wilsonia-based electronics manufacturer Vektronix was among the businesses which took an early decision to shut up shop yesterday.
MBSA said on Thursday it had decided to suspend production for yesterday because of the large number of its 5200 workers who use taxi services to get to work.
While the plant closure would have had a knock-on effect on suppliers to MBSA’s R65.8-billion operation, workers at automotive component companies in any case also found themselves on the wrong side of the taxi blockades in their efforts to get to work.
The East London Industrial Development Zone was almost totally deserted as employees at tenant firms failed to arrive. By late morning, even administrative staff at the operating company called it a day.
Ikwezi group of companies executive director Pieter Bosch, who employs 160 people across various businesses, said no meaningful production was possible and those employees who had arrived for work were sent home.
Although he expressed sympathy for the underlying causes, Bosch was scathing about the taxi shutdown of the metro, saying it was fuelled by outside influences, denied people freedom of choice and was “a sad state of affairs”.
At Foxtec-Ikhwezi, which supplies suspension components to MBSA, only three employees out of the workforce of 28 were able to arrive at work yesterday and were sent home. Based on previous media reports, Foxtec-Ikhwezi’s loss for the day in turnover could reach R1.5-million.
The chamber’s Holbrook estimated that between 40% and 70% of retail staff in the metro would have been prevented from getting to work and although there were challenges, the sector was functioning.
Numsa organiser Mteteleli Tshete confirmed that the union’s members, who dominate the automotive sector in the province, would not be paid.
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