JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Thousands of South African transport workers began a strike on Monday at logistics group Transnet, threatening to cripple rail, fuel pipelines and port operations in Africa's biggest economy after failed wage talks.
The strike -- the latest in a series of public protests ahead of next month's soccer World Cup -- could paralyse coal and iron ore exports, fuel distribution, and interrupt shipping.
Power utility Eskom said however the strike would have no impact on the transport of coal used to power its plants, as only small amounts of coal were carried by rail, with the rest supplied by conveyor belts directly from mines.
Transnet, along with coal, iron ore, ferrochrome and fuel producers, said they had put contingency plans in place in anticipation of the strike to mitigate some interruptions.
"The strike will not have a material immediate impact on our exports. In anticipation of a planned 10-day shutdown period scheduled by (Transnet Freight Rail) we had built up stocks at (Richards Bay Coal Terminal)," said Pranill Ramchander, spokesman for Anglo American.
The group's thermal coal unit is the country's biggest coal exporter. South Africa exports most of its coal to power stations in Europe, but increasingly to Asia as well.