The Banking Association of South Africa said that a banking sector strike would not have the desired effect. The sector’s biggest union Sasbo said that over 40,000 finance sector employees were expected to take part in a strike against retrenchments in the industry. The association’s Cas Coovadia said that while the union had every right to strike it was not the right move.
Coovadia said that the industry would work to ensure consumers did no bear the brunt of the strike. Meanwhile, business organisation Business Unity South Africa is heading to court to find out if its application for an interdict against the strike has been successful. The Revenue Service said it had contingency plans in place to mitigate the impact of Friday’s strike. The strike comes after several banks announced restructuring plans and the digitisation of banking systems, which would see thousands of retrenchments. The South African Revenue Service (Sars) said that all participants were rolling out plans to ensure that there was minimal disruption to its services.