Case study: The cost of strike action in South Africa South Africas workdays lost due to strike action rose more than 30-fold from January to June 2022 compared with the same period a year earlier, driving up wage settlements between trade unions and companies. Africas most industrialized economy lost 1.6 million workdays due to industrial action in the first half of 2022, up from 45,000 in the prior year, according to the South African Reserve Banks Quarterly Bulletin 2022. The figure is calculated by multiplying the number of employees on strike by the days they were absent from work, the central bank said in response to an e-mailed question. The increase in working days lost, particularly in the second quarter, was driven by a prolonged wage-related strike at a large gold-mining company. About 31,000 workers at Sibanye Stillwater Ltd.s three gold mines in South Africa embarked on a three-month strike for higher wages from early March 2022. The protests hit the producers gold output, which slumped 63% year-on-year figures. Dissatisfaction over pay was the biggest cause of industrial action in the second quarter, accounting for 99% of workdays lost and 85% of strikes. Dissatisfaction over pay, drove the average wage settlement rate agreed through collective bargaining up to 6.1% in the first half of 2022, from 4.5% 2021. Despite the increase, the average wage settlement rate was still below the average headline consumer price inflation rate of 6.2% in the first half of 2022. The economy shrunk in the second quarter and is now smaller than it was before the coronavirus pandemic struck as the strikes, severe flooding and heightening power outages weighed on output. South Africa remains stuck in its longest downward cycle since World War II, with the economy entering its 106th month of a weakening cycle in September 2022. Source (Adapted): Bloomberg. 2022.The cost of strike action in South Africa Sourced 22 September 2022 Available at: The cost of strike action in South Africa (businesstech.co.za)

Propose changes to South African organisational employment policies and procedures to optimise workplace peace resulting in the increasing industrial action rate.