South Africa’s ports and freight-rail operator Transnet has partially lifted a force majeure at its ports after unions called off their industrial action.
Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), an operating division of Transnet, said that the force majeure, which it had declared on October 6th, had been withdrawn with immediate effect in the automotive, bulk and multi-purpose terminals.
However, the force majeure that it declared for the container terminals would remain in place until at least October 31st, “due to the extent of the backlogs and the resultant impact on operations.”
TPT stated that its full workforce reported for duty with effect from October 20th, and that the backlogs in the container terminals were being cleared as part of the recovery plans underway.
The strike, started by the United National Transport Union (UNTU) on October 6th and joined by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) four days later, affected exports of iron ore, coal, chrome and some agriculture products.