South African Oil & Gas Workers to Strike Over Pay

More than 15,000 employees in South Africa's petroleum sector are expected to go on strike this week after wage talks with employers failed, Talk Radio 702 reported on Tuesday.

The radio said the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union (CEPPWAWU) had said the workers will down tools from Thursday morning.

CEPPWAWU spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment when contacted by Reuters.

The work stoppage could further damage the economy, which is forecast by the central bank to remain stagnant this year after expanding 1.3 percent in 2015.

Demands for above-inflation pay rises also look set to aggravate the central bank's big dilemma of how to keep a lid on inflation – usually by raising interest rates – without snuffing out already slow economic growth.

South Africa's annual inflation stood at 6.3 percent in June.