The first salvo of protests in South Africa against the increase in fuel prices saw taxi operators and trucks block the N4 in Nelspruit, in Mpumalanga, yesterday, signalling a potential disruption to the economy if their action spreads.
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) yesterday also called for a national shutdown amid worsening living standards, including the high fuel price.
#NationalShutdown was trending on Twitter as frustrated South Africans flooded social media on Tuesday afternoon with talks of a national shutdown amid the record-high fuel prices (with petrol at R26 a litre) and continuous load shedding.
Media reports emerged yesterday that public transport operators were incensed after the price of 93-octane petrol increased by R2.37 per litre on Wednesday, while diesel jumped by at least R2.30 per litre as the government also announced a 75 cents cut to the fuel subsidy, from R1.50.
South Africa is not alone in facing unrest as soaring fuel costs triggered protests this week in around the globe including the UK, Mozambique, Ecuador and Ghana.
Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly said that although the blockade was a peripheral one by the taxi industry, the impact of fuel prices was hitting a lot of truck operators, with some finding it hard to cope as increases amounted to about 50 percent over the past year and a half.
“Operators who are paid after 30, 60 or 90 days are finding it hard to still carry loads and be on the road while waiting for payments. This increase certainly has a knock-on affect on the trucking industry,” Kelly said.
He said it was inevitable that operators would individually increase their rates after negotiations with customers.
“Those able to do it will increase prices sooner, while others may wait for their contracts to negotiate,” he said.
The protest paralysed business in the city with the impact spilling over into the distant Kruger National Park and blocking access to the Mozambique border.
Main malls, offices and service centres in Nelspruit were evacuated as a precaution against looting, because most workers could not make it to work after transport operatorss, supported by minibus taxis, instigated the blockade, reportedly by hijacking trucks to barricade the roads.
Linda Grimbeek, Lowveld Business Chamber of Commerce Chief Operations Officer, said: “We are a tourism town. We are sitting with tourists who cannot make it to Kruger Park because the roads are blocked. They have prior bookings and do not want to spend another night in Nelspruit. Most accommodation places are closed anyway.“
Kruger National Parks spokesperson Ike Phaahla said there was an impact on customers who could not make it through and they were advised to use alternative gates from where they would be escorted to their camps.
“It is not just Kruger National Park, a lot of places of accommodation along the route have been affected. The saving grace is that since schools have already closed, a lot of our guests are already in the park. There have been no cancellations,” Phaahla said.
Police arrested eight people in the morning and were on hand to quell further blockades later on in the day.
Sifiso Nyathi of the All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa (ATDF ASA) said the blockade had not been a co-ordinated one by truck drivers, but that it was urgent that the issue of petrol prices be addressed as it was increasingly making life difficult.
“One day all of us, taxi drivers, truck drivers, truck operators must come together for a major protest.
“The government needs to look into this urgently because everything is going up but salaries are not,” Nyathi said.
Truck drivers last month blockaded the N3 between Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to protest against foreign truck drivers, prompting Business Unity South Africa (Busa) chief executive Cas Coovadia, to say the blockades were a recurring occurrence and that his organisation had consistently appealed to the government to take proactive measures to halt and arrest those responsible.
“It is very clear that our appeals have not been heeded and there appears to be no accountability in the government for this, and we do not see any consequences for those perpetrating these acts,” Coovadia said.
Busa said at the time that it despaired at the silence from the transport minister about this significant disruption of economic activity when the country needed to instil confidence among investors and put South Africa on a sustainable growth path.
Meanwhile, Saftu has called for a media briefing today to outline its calls for a national shutdown.
It said this was in response to worsening living standards as a result of massive increase in prices for food, electricity, interest rates and fuel.
Another reason was load shedding, which had led to the collapse of small businesses and had increased job losses.
It also bemoaned a jobs bloodbath and worsening unemployment, among other grievances.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE