South Africa's Bank Workers Plan Nationwide Strike

Banking activities looks set for a nationwide strike this Friday. The South African Society of Bank Officials (SASBO) says it is planning a nationwide on September 27, 2019.

South African Banks
Source : businessteck.co.za

This industrial action is due to the job losses and retrenchments at South African banks, which have directly led to branch closures and increased adoption of digital banking services. Around 40,000 bank workers will be involved in the strike.

But the courts may save the economy from this imminent collapse. Business Unity South Africa (Busa) have applied for an urgent interdict against the bank strike. This crisis reaction is a direct attempt to avert chaos at the eleventh hour. If their efforts are unsuccessful, the banks of South Africa seem well prepared for the demonstrations:

What are the banks saying?

Standard Bank: They have taken precautionary measure, sending text messages to warn customers of the potential bank strike. They maintain that online banking will be the best way to use their services on Friday.

FNB: They are currently advising customers they will have less staff working in-branch, and they are pushing their clients to download the mobile app and get accustomed to “remote banking”.

ABSA: To combat a “small number” of striking workers, they claim to have a “business continuity plan” that’s in place and ready to be rolled out by Friday.

Nedbank: Similar to FNB, the bank has warned customers to avoid coming into branches located in the aforementioned cities “unless absolutely necessary” – they’re also encouraging the use of “digital banking”.

Capitec: The institution is playing it cool, and they expect no employees to join the planned protests.

The Banking Association of South Africa (Basa) have echoed a few of these sentiments, and warned all bank customers to get tech-savvy in the next couple of days. The group are encouraging the use of digital services wherever possible. Speaking of the money-handlers, SARS are also bracing for impact.