Strike ‘cancels out SWC benefits’

Johannesburg - The public service strike is diminishing the gains made by South Africa in hosting a successful World Cup, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said on Thursday.

"The benefits that South Africa should have gained from the successful hosting of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup are being seriously eroded by the current activities of labour," the chamber said in a statement.

The public service strike - in its 16th day - and labour action in other sectors were harming South Africa's economic productivity.

"There appears to be scant concern for the negative impact that the present tide of protest action has on the South African economy and the ripple effect that these actions are bound to have on economic growth, employment, job creation and both domestic and foreign direct investment," Sacci said.

Although it recognised the right of workers to down tools, Sacci opposed the unions' threat to involve the private sector in its strike. This strategy was flawed on a number of fronts. Among other things, it showed the strike was not having the impact the unions were hoping for.

"It shows that since the action is not achieving labour's desired outcome, they are trying to implement a strategy to bring the entire economy to a halt," Sacci said.

It also unfairly prejudiced the private sector that was not the target of the strike, while showing a "a total lack of concern for the country, for economic growth, for job retention and creation and for investment".

However, business went on, Sacci said.

"Notwithstanding the widespread protest action, business continues to operate and the 'job still gets done' which provides strong evidence of the resilience of the South African economy to cope with adversity."