Frequent strikes hurts S. African economy: official report

With South Africa's "strike season" in full swing, the Department of Labor on Thursday warned against frequent strikes that is harming both the economy and the labor force.

In its latest Industrial Action Report, the department said the South African labor market lost a total of 946,323 working days as a result of 122 work stoppages last year.

This represents a 4.7-percent increase in working days lost in 2016 as compared to 903,921 days in 2015, according to the report.

In term of wages lost, the South African labor economy lost approximately 161 million rand (about 12 million U.S. dollars) due to work stoppages in 2016, up from 116 million rand in 2015.

Most of the work stoppages were due to wages, bonus and other compensation demands, the report said.

More work stoppages were experienced during the "strike season" which is the second and third quarters of the year when wage contracts come up for discussion.

Of the nine provinces, some with relatively high-performance economic activities had experienced more strikes in all the four quarters of 2016. These provinces are Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

There were 90,228 workers involved in labor disputes in 2016, the lowest figure since strike records captured in 2013, noted the report.

To reduce strikes over wage demands, the department stressed that possibilities of increasing minimum wages to address poverty and inequality and to expand provision for retirement savings for low-income workers will become a sharp focus in the future.

The report emphasized the concerns around the logic of pursuing strike action to the point where it damages workers' interests.

Either way, South Africa needs to find a solution for the seemingly faltering bargaining structure, the report said.

South Africa is facing a tough challenge to avoid a repeat of last year's deadly strikes, market analysts have said.

With the country experiencing tough economic times, this year is expected to see more people, both the employed and the jobless, taking to the streets.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)